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Sentencing opens window on area's Asian gang violence
By ABHI RAGHUNATHAN
Published June 23, 2007
LARGO - Men Sorn's first brush with law took place when he was a 12-year-old boy with big eyes and a bowl haircut. After he was arrested on charges of arson, residential burglary and criminal mischief, a court told him to stop hanging out with gangs. By all accounts, Sorn didn't listen. He proceeded to build a lengthy criminal record. Three years ago, St. Petersburg police arrested him, saying he had shot and killed another Asian Pride gang member after a 17-minute car chase and shootout in the city's streets. On Friday, Sorn, 23, paid the price for spending his youth entangled with Asian Pride when Judge J. Thomas McGrady sentenced him to 35 years in prison for second-degree murder. McGrady also sentenced Sorn, who had already pleaded guilty, to 15 years in prison for aggravated assault and five years for shooting into an occupied vehicle, but said the sentences would be served concurrently. Sorn's sentencing hearing shed light on the shadowy world of Asian gangs in Pinellas County. Sorn is Cambodian, though the Asian Pride gang in south Pinellas includes youths from other Southeast Asian countries. St. Petersburg police Detective Bryan Sims detailed for the court how Asian Pride members wore red bandanas and other clothing on their left side. He explained the various hand signs that Sorn and other Asian Pride members flashed in photographs - like ck for crip killers, or b for bloods. Beatings are part of the initiation process, Sims said. He said the department had documented 52 members of Asian Pride by 2004, and said they had engaged in shootings, stabbings and other retaliatory attacks in feuds with other gangs. Sorn didn't make a statement at his sentencing, and stared straight ahead with little emotion as his sentence was read. He still had a boyish face, but his hair was spiky. Several relatives and friends wept. The bulk of the Sorn's sentencing revolved around testimony from Sims, who works in gang intelligence. Seth Walker, 20, also faces charges related to the killing. His case is pending Abhi Raghunathan can be reached at araghunathan@sptimes.com or 727 893-8472.
[Last modified June 23, 2007, 00:53:11]
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