4 people, including Plano man, sentenced to 99 months in prison in USPS bribery scheme

Four defendants were sentenced to a combined 99 months in federal prison, including one man from Plano, for their roles in a United States Postal Service bribery scheme, officials say.

The four defendants are 52-year-old Zechariah Yi and 51-year-old Tai Ryoung Rho, two former USPS employees from Colorado, and 48-year-old Hong Jin Yoon from Denver and 51-year-old Wan Jin Yoon from Plano. Wan Jin Yoon and Hong Jin Yoon owned the trucking companies involved in the scheme, officials said.

According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office, the scheme involved the four getting about $1.5 million in kickbacks from trucking company owners and associates in exchange for helping them get USPS service contracts worth about $15 million.

Wan Jin Yoon, Hong Jin Yoon and Rho each pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit honest services wire fraud, officials said, while Yi peladed guilty to receiving a bribe by a public official.

Individually, Yi was sentenced to 42 months, Rho was sentenced to 30 months, Wan Hin Yoon was sentenced to 24 months and Hong Jin Yoon was sentenced to 3 months.

Officials say the four defendants also agreed to forfeit more than $300,000 in cash and two vehicles.

“At the expense of the integrity and fairness of the government contracting process, these defendants resorted to bribery and corruption simply to line their own pockets,” U.S. Attorney Ryan Raybould said in a statement. “The diligent work of our law enforcement partners led to a successful prosecution of these fraudsters by my office.  This outcome should serve as a warning to others contemplating such behavior, that we will hold every person accountable for fraud schemes of this nature.”

“The defendants fraudulently secured a government contract in a scheme that involved paying kickbacks to government employees, who misused their positions of trust with the U.S. Postal Service for personal gain,” FBI Dallas Special Agent in Charge R. Joseph Rothrock said in a statement. “The FBI remains committed to holding accountable individuals that defraud the United States government.”