SANTA ANA — A 41-year-old Garden Grove woman caught up in a crackdown on illegal gambling, extortion and drug trafficking in Santa Ana was sentenced to a year in federal prison Monday.
U.S. District Judge David O. Carter sentenced Honganh Thi Pham to one year and one day behind bars for her conspiracy conviction.
According to the defendant’s plea agreement, from April 2019 through August 2021 she conspired with three other defendants to operate an illegal gambling business.
Pham managed illegal casinos known as “nets” or “slaphouses” in strip malls and homes, including four in Santa Ana, prosecutors said.
Two other co-defendants awaiting trial are:
–Niem Ngoc Ha, 47, of Fountain Valley, who is accused of opening and running the four casinos, EZ Boba, Sharks, Willits and Asia and;
–Sammy Cardona, 36, of Santa Ana, who is accused of being an enforcer.
Co-defendant Mindy Bui, 37, of Westminster, who also managed the casinos, pleaded guilty and was sentenced Sept. 11 to one day time served, which she already had credit for awaiting trial.
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