Sun Xiaoguo, a released convict of multiple crimes and suspect of an organized crime case, was handed a 25-year prison term Friday for committing multiple crimes including organizing and leading mafia-like organizations.
All of Sun’s personal assets will be confiscated, according to the verdict announced by the Intermediate People’s Court of Yuxi in Yunnan Province, southwest China.
The other 12 defendants in the same case were handed down prison terms of various lengths, ranging from two and a half years to 15 years, plus fines, for participating in mafia-like organizations.
The mafia-like organizations that were led and organized by Sun and participated in by other defendants were found to have committed crimes of opening casinos, creating disturbances, illegally taking others into custody, intentionally inflicting injury upon others, gathering crowds for fighting, obstructing witnesses giving evidence and offering bribes, and conducted other illegal acts, according to the verdict.
On the same day, the people’s court of Jiangchuan District in Yuxi handed down jail terms of various lengths, ranging from one year and six months to nine and a half years, to 22 defendants who were involved in Sun’s case. They were found to have committed crimes of opening casinos, creating disturbances, gathering crowds for fighting, illegally taking others into custody, fraud and intentionally inflicting injury upon others.
In a separate case, Sun was retried on October 14 at the Yunnan Provincial Higher People’s Court for rape, insulting women by forcible means, intentionally inflicting injury upon others and creating disturbances. The court has yet to announce the verdict.
Sun was found guilty of the same crimes and sentenced to death in 1998, but finally received 20 years of imprisonment after a retrial in 2007. He was released in 2010 after several reductions in his sentence, serving only 12 years and five months in prison.
In July 2019, the Yunnan Provincial Higher People’s Court decided that the verdict in 2007 was incorrect and the case should be reheard.