Hearing opens window on gang
An Asian Pride member is sentenced to 35 years for a car chase and murder.
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.
"Your actions severely threatened the life of the driver and any other innocent bystander who might have been in the streets," McGrady said. "That just can't be tolerated."
McGrady also told Sorn that he'd been given lots of warnings about staying away from gangs, but that he had failed to do that.
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. Prosecutors, who had sought a 39.5 year sentence, wanted to establish that Sorn was a member of a gang and that the shooting was gang-related so he would receive a stiffer sentence.
McGrady ultimately ruled that Sorn was a member of a gang, but said he was not convinced that the shooting was done to further gang interests. He said both Sorn and his victim, 18-year-old Xaisomdeth Sayavongkeo, who was associated with Asian Pride, had personal disputes.
Seth Walker, 20, who was arrested along with Sorn, also faces charges related to the killing. His case is pending.
Aaron Slavin, who prosecuted Sorn for the Pinellas-Pasco State Attorney's Office, said he disagreed with McGrady's ruling on the gang-related motivation of the shooting, but respected it.
"I'm glad Judge McGrady gave him a lengthy sentence," Slavin said. "He (Sorn) won't be committing crimes as an adult in Pinellas County anymore."
Joe Hobson, who represented Sorn, said he was pleased with Judge McGrady's ruling on the gang-related provision, but said the whole incident "was a tragedy for Mr. Sorn."
Laura Vilaysack, 41, who helped care for Sorn, told McGrady that he had a good heart.
Prosecutor Doug Ellis responded by asking whether a man with a good heart would chase down fellow gang members and shoot them.
"Is that a caring heart?" he asked. "He is a danger to this community."
Abhi Raghunathan can be reached at araghunathan@sptimes.com or (727) 893-8472.