Woodland Hills man convicted in karaoke bar extortion case

A Woodland Hills man was sentenced to 22 years and six months in prison Friday for extorting the owners of a Koreatown karaoke bar as well as the drivers who transported the party hostesses. He sometimes violently attacked victims who refused to pay and kidnapped one of them in his car after beating her with a baseball bat.

Daekun Cho, 39, was also ordered by U.S. District Judge Fernando L. Aenlle-Rochato to pay $240,167 in restitution and a $5,700 surcharge, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office.

Cho was found guilty under federal law in downtown Los Angeles in March on 55 counts of economic interference through extortion, one count each of attempted economic interference through extortion and auto theft.

According to evidence presented during a five-day trial, Cho demanded protection money from Koreatown karaoke establishments as well as from drivers of doumis – hostesses – hired by patrons of those establishments.

Cho extorted money in person and through Venmo every month from at least 2018 through March 2023 from victims who ran businesses or drove people to and from karaoke bars in the Koreatown neighborhood of Los Angeles. Evidence showed he physically assaulted, threatened and instilled fear in victims to get them to pay him. The payments, which Cho called “protection money,” typically ranged from $100 to $1,000 per month.

“For years, this defendant terrorized Koreatown merchants with his violent extortion schemes and intimidated victims into silence,” U.S. Attorney Martin Estrada said in a statement. “But by working with our local partners, we were able to expose and unmask this incorrigible gangster.”

For example, in May 2021, when one of Cho's victims – a doumi driver – refused to pay him more money, Cho and his accomplice beat the victim with baseball bats until he was unconscious and then stole his minivan. The victim suffered a broken arm and numerous cuts and bruises. In response, the victim and his business partner closed their karaoke driving business, and the business partner left California.

In another incident in July 2022, another victim was dropping off two doumis at a Koreatown karaoke bar when Cho – who apparently had something in the pocket of his hoodie – approached the victim's car, opened the door with his sleeve to avoid leaving fingerprints, half-entered the vehicle and told the victim that the victim's company was not allowed to drop off doumis. As the victim drove away, he heard gunshots that shattered the car window and struck a doumi in the neck, according to documents filed in federal court in Los Angeles.

In January 2023, Cho ambushed another karaoke driver who had been paying him a monthly extortion fee in cash for years and then through Venmo. Cho began accepting electronic extortion payments during the COVID-19 pandemic. When the victim stopped paying, Cho ambushed the victim, stole $1,000 from him and threatened to kill him, prosecutors said.

Prosecutors said that when Cho was arrested, he was in possession of a 9mm gun, a 17-caliber Glock gun, a partially assembled ghost gun, several loaded high-capacity magazines and ammunition for a revolver. Cho also possessed an illegal knife, two metal baseball bats and $20,733 in cash.

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