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Meth and guns dealer dodges 10 years in prison and gets 14 days-time served

June 16, 2017 By Paul Frangipane Special to the Brooklyn Daily Eagle
Shu Yong Yang walked out of Brooklyn Federal Court holding his daughter. Eagle photo by Paul Frangipane.
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A Queens man who was caught selling large amounts of methamphetamine and guns for nearly a year dodged a 10-year sentence Friday and walked out of Brooklyn Federal Court sentenced to 14 days time already served.

Shu Yong Yang, along with at least four others, delved into the crime life in Flushing, Queens when he engaged in a meth and firearms ring between July 2013 and June 2014, eventually becoming a DEA informant, responsible for the arrests of three other dealers.

“When I had a chance to make fast money, I did it,” Yang said in court, taking pauses between his sentences. “When you do bad things, bad things happen to you.”

He spent 14 days in jail in June 2014 before he was released on a $500,000 bond. For three years he was unaware that those 14 days would be the last he would spend in jail for these crimes.

In a Heisenberg twist, Yang’s attorney Joel Cohen said, “Mr. Yang became somebody that he had never been before.”

Yang pleaded guilty to the charges on Feb. 9, 2015.

The mandatory minimum for the meth distribution charge was 10 years in prison, but superseding orders allowed Judge Margo Brodie to sentence lower.

“You have been given a really big break,” Brodie said to Yang.

Brodie said she considered Yang’s cooperation with the DEA, his family support and his clean prior record in her sentence.

In one deal, Yang sold an undercover DEA agent an ounce of crystal meth for $4,000 and two handguns for $3,300 at the Lake Pavilion Restaurant in Flushing, Queens.

Yang referred to the guns as a “metal cabinet,” in a phone conversation with the agent.

After his arrest, Yang cooperated with the DEA and wore a recording device while buying drugs from other dealers.

Yang said he felt “part of the team,” when working with DEA.

In another instance at the Lake Pavilion, the undercover agent told Yang that he had $3,700 in cash and wanted an ounce of crystal meth. Yang then left the restaurant, stopped at various locations over the span of a few hours and returned with the meth.

“I will never commit another crime in my life,” Yang said to Brodie before he left the courtroom with his daughter in his arms and family members embracing him.

“He’s a good kid,” Cohen said about Yang. “He’s earned it.”

 

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