218 Years of Prison for Former Asian Boyz Gang Leader

A former Asian Boyz gang leader was sentenced this week to 218 years to life for four counts of first-degree murder and other felonies for his role in a 1990s crime spree.

Judge Curtis B. Rappe sentenced 38-year-old Pierre Mercado to a series of consecutive terms for his part in the four killings and also for five attempted murders, a kidnapping for robbery and a kidnapping for extortion.

Mercado turned and waved at family members as he exited the courtroom.

A brother and other members of Mercado's family declined to comment on the sentence.

Deputy District Attorney Hoon Chun said Mercado is the last of a violent group of 15 to 25 Asian Boyz members to be tried for terrorizing parts of Los Angeles County, including the San Fernando and San Gabriel valleys. He said many victims of the brazen shootings had no connections to gangs.

"What really separates this out from other gang murders is that they really enjoyed doing this,'' Chun said today. "It's almost like they were out at night hunting for people.''

Mercado is the younger brother of Marvin Mercado, who was sentenced in March 2011 to eight consecutive terms of life in prison without the possibility of parole. The older sibling was convicted of eight murders.

Marvin Mercado, who was known by the alias "Shy Boy,'' and his brother, dubbed ``Boo Boo'' by fellow gang members, were living in the Philippines when they were arrested in 2007 and brought back to Los Angeles to stand trial.

Though fugitives, they were living in a luxury high-rise in the "Manila version of Bel Air,'' according to Chun.

"They thought they had separated themselves by 7,000 miles from justice,'' Chun said, who did not disclose how law enforcement tracked down the brothers.

But once they were arrested, "the whole house of cards came down.''

Chun said what made the crime spree especially egregious and motivated law enforcement to travel overseas to apprehend the Mercados is that one witness was killed and the father of another was shot at the front door of his home.

But many of the murders were "indiscriminate'' and marked by violent abandon; gang members once threw a grenade and fired wildly into a crowded party of what seemed to be random victims, Chun said.

The gang also tried to kill two Marines in what the prosecutor speculated might have been a chance to test themselves -- ``like someone would pick a fight with a boxer in a bar.''

Los Angeles Police Lt. Walter Teague echoed Chun's sentiment, calling the Mercados' activities "thrill kills.''

At conviction, DeBlanc said he was disappointed with the verdicts.

"It's unfortunate,'' he said. "I hate to see my client's life reach this point.''

But on Friday the attorney was looking forward.

"An appeal will be filed,'' DeBlanc said before leaving the courtroom.

Pierre Mercado was convicted of first-degree murder in the slayings of Cheng Peng, Paul Vu and Ben Liao, who were mistaken for members of a Taiwanese- based gang.

They were followed by three carloads of Asian Boyz gang members as they left a Peck Road cafe, got on the westbound San Bernardino (10) Freeway and then attacked near the Temple City Boulevard offramp in El Monte on Aug. 1, 1995.

He also was convicted of murder in the death of Tony Nguyen, who was killed with a shotgun prosecutors said was fired by one of the Mercado brothers' accomplices.

The Mercados were fugitives when seven one-time cohorts of the gang's Van Nuys clique -- Buntheon Roeung, Sothi Menh, David Evangelista, Roatha Buth, Son Thanh Bui, Ky Tony Ngo and Kimorn Nuth -- were tried, convicted and sentenced to life in prison without the possibility of parole in June 1999.

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