Several members of a violent gang known as the “Reccless Tigers,” which operates out of Fairfax County, Virginia, have been indicted by a federal grand jury on a slew of charges, including murder, kidnapping and racketeering.
The 72-page indictment, returned by a grand jury in U.S. District Court for the Eastern District of Virginia in Alexandria, included allegations of a brutal 2019 revenge killing carried out by gang members in retaliation against a witness in an earlier assault case.
In court documents, prosecutors said four members of the Reccless Tigers abducted Brandon White from a Fairfax County shopping mall on Jan. 31, 2019, drove him to a wooded area in Richmond, and that three of the gang members then stabbed and shot him to death.
Indicted in that killing are 23-year-old Peter Le, 24-year-old Young Yoo and 26-year-old Joseph Duk-Hyun Lamborn. Another alleged gang member, 26-year-old Sascha Amadeus Carlisle, participated in the abduction, according to the indictment.
White’s slaying came as retaliation after he testified against another gang member, who was charged with assaulting him in August 2018 over a $10,000 drug debt.
Before White was abducted and killed, prosecutors said gang members offered to pay him to keep silent, but he refused.
Also before the killing, one of the gang members snapped a picture of the police report containing White’s statements to police about the gang, and posted it on Instagram and Snapchat so that other members of the Reccless Tigers “would know that White was a ‘snitch’ and should be ‘checked,'” the indictment stated.
In addition to the murder and kidnapping charges, three other alleged gang members were indicted on charges ranging from racketeering, money laundering, firearms charges, distribution of controlled substances and conspiracy.
They are Anthony Nguyen Thanh Le, 27; Tony Minh Le, 26; and Sang Thanh Huynh, 30.
The indictments list crimes the gang is suspected of carrying out, stretching back to 2012.
Prosecutors said the gang sold marijuana, THC vape pens, cocaine and other drugs, which were transported from California to Northern Virginia.
Gang members also used social media to build the gang’s “brand,” prosecutors said, which included a unique tiger logo that was printed on T-shirts and jewelry. The gang frequently hosted Airbnb house parties.
The indictment also links the gang to the April 2016 killing of George Mason University student Hosung Lee, who attended one of the gang’s house parties. During the party, a fight broke out between Lee and several gang members, and Lee was stabbed in the chest. Unaware that his injuries were life-threatening, Lee left the party and died at home later that night.
