"SAN FRANCISCO - The owner of a popular Fisherman's Wharf restaurant has been sentenced to federal prison in a bribery scheme, but now prosecutors are accusing of getting a lighter prison term through deceit. On Nov. 20, Nick's Lighthouse owner Min Ki Paik, aka James Paik, 65, was sentenced to nine months in prison after pleading guilty to bribery and tax evasion, court records show."
"Paik stood before this Court and said that he had had accepted responsibility for his crimes, he was remorseful, and that he had 'learned a lesson I will never forget,' a Dec. 16 prosecution motion says. 'Mr. Paik's actions here demonstrate that none of that was true.' Chief among Paik's alleged lies were that his restaurant and sole source of income was closed."
"U.S. District Judge Rita Lin, who sentenced Paik, gave him until March to turn himself in, court records show. Prosecutors want that date bumped up to now, and are set to appear in court on Jan. 8 to argue it. Paik and his wife, Hye Paik, 62, were charged in late 2023 with paying cash bribes on four separate occasions during their bid to acquire the vacant properties that once housed Pompei's Grotto and Lou's Fish Shack,"
Min Ki Paik, also known as James Paik, 65, was sentenced Nov. 20 to nine months in federal prison after pleading guilty to bribery and tax evasion. Prosecutors contend Paik lied to the court about his remorse and the closure of his restaurant and sought a lighter sentence through deceit. FBI observed Paik working at his still-open Nick's Lighthouse on Nov. 25, contradicting his claim that the restaurant, his sole income source, was closed. Prosecutors later learned Paik owned a second restaurant. U.S. District Judge Rita Lin gave him until March to surrender; prosecutors ask for immediate custody and will argue on Jan. 8.
Read at The Mercury News
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