U.S. Attorney's Office for the Central District of California issued the following announcement on Feb. 10.
A Walnut man was sentenced today to 168 months in federal prison for orchestrating a $2 million armed robbery of a commercial marijuana warehouse where over half a ton of marijuana was stolen with the help of a corrupt Los Angeles County Sheriff’s Department deputy.
Christopher Myung Kim, 30, was sentenced by United States District Judge Virginia A. Phillips, who also ordered him to pay a $500,000 fine.
Following a four-day trial in November 2019, a jury found Kim guilty of five felonies: conspiracy to distribute marijuana, possession with intent to distribute marijuana, conspiracy against rights, deprivation of rights under color of law, and brandishing a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime.
Kim had worked at the downtown Los Angeles warehouse for years, but a dispute with its owners left him “bitterly disgruntled,” according to court documents. Kim left his job just weeks before the robbery and conspired with LASD Deputy Marc Antrim, 42, of South El Monte, to orchestrate the raid both for profit and to get revenge against his own bosses. Antrim was assigned to the LASD station in Temple City at the time.
Days before the robbery, Kim supplied Antrim with inside information about the robbery, including key details about the warehouse’s layout, operation and security. Kim also gave Antrim the warehouse’s blueprints, noting where security guards likely would be stationed and which rooms Antrim and their co-conspirators should “hit” to ensure that the most valuable items were stolen.
At approximately 3 a.m. on October 29, 2018, Antrim and six co-conspirators began to rob the marijuana distribution warehouse. Antrim was dressed as an armed deputy and flashed his badge and a fake search warrant to gain access to the warehouse. He then detained the warehouse’s security guards in a cage in the back of an LASD Ford Explorer.
During the two-hour robbery, Antrim and the fake law enforcement team stole more than half a ton of marijuana, two large commercial safes containing more than $600,000 in cash and money orders, and other items of value from the warehouse.
Hours after the robbery, Antrim drove a rental truck to a storage facility in Walnut, where Kim had rented a storage unit the day of the robbery. Antrim and co-conspirator Kevin McBride, 44, of Glendora, delivered $1.5 million dollars’ worth of stolen marijuana and marijuana products to Kim to resell for profit.
In the weeks following the robbery, Kim worked diligently to sell off the marijuana, trying to make as much money as he could from it and also to exact revenge against his former employers.
Kim has been in federal custody since his conviction in November 2019.
“Although not physically present during the robbery…Kim was integral to its planning, success, and profitability,” prosecutors wrote in their sentencing memorandum. “He was a leader, organizer, and knowingly made this robbery possible.”
Antrim was arrested in November 2018 and pleaded guilty in March 2019 to multiple felonies in connection with the armed robbery. At Kim’s trial, Antrim testified about how he devised and executed the robbery with Kim’s help. Antrim’s sentencing hearing is scheduled for April 13.
Five other defendants, including McBride, have pleaded guilty to criminal charges for their involvement in the robbery and will be sentenced in the coming months.
The Drug Enforcement Administration, the FBI, and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives investigated this case. LASD’s Internal Criminal Investigations Bureau provided substantial assistance to the federal investigation.
This matter was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Lindsey Greer Dotson of the Public Corruption and Civil Rights Section and Joseph D. Axelrad of the Violent and Organized Crime Section.
Original source can be found here.
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