A day after his son made his first court appearance on charges of killing a Clayton County sheriff's deputy, Hing Bun was one of four defendants who pleaded guilty Wednesday in federal district court to charges related to bribing an immigration employee.
“These four defendants were marked for deportation but thought that they could beat the system by bribing an immigration employee," U.S. Attorney Sally Quillian Yates said in a statement.
"Thanks to the honesty and cooperation of the employee, these defendants will now have to spend time in prison before they are deported,” Yates said.
The men, who were indicted in April, were accused of attempting to pay a U.S. Immigrations and Customs Enforcement (ICE) agent between $1,500 and $4,000 to alter their reporting requirements and criminal histories in 2010.
According to authorities and court testimony, the defendants were subject to deportation due to previous criminal convictions and were required to report periodically to the ICE Enforcement and Removal Operations agency.
After the initial bribery request, the ICE employee reported the incident to special agents and began to work undercover, eventually being introduced to all the defendants.
Bun, 42, of Riverdale, pleaded guilty to conspiracy. He could receive a maximum sentence of five years in prison and a $250,000 fine.
Fellow defendant Rotana Khov, 34, of Atlanta, pleaded guilty to six counts of bribing a public official and one count of conspiracy. He could get up to 95 years in prison and a $1.75 million fine.
Pisa Phosai, 34, of McDonough, pleaded guilty to conspiracy and one count of bribing a public official. His punishment could be up to 20 years in prison and a $500,000 fine.
Voeun Lim, 26, of Charlotte, pleaded guilty to bribing a public official. He could receive a maximum sentence of 15 years and a $250,000 fine.
No sentencing date has been set.
Jonathan Bun, 17, was bound over to Clayton County Superior Court on Tuesday on charges of felony murder, malice murder, aggravated assault and possession of a firearm during the commission of a felony.
He is accused of fatally shooting Deputy Richard "Rick" Daly, 55, on July 20 while the officer was trying to serve him with an arrest warrant for a January robbery. A bond hearing is scheduled for Friday.
-- Staff writer Marcus K. Garner contributed to this article.
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