Right-wine extremist from L.A. who turned a Lodi vineyard into a shooting range cops a plea with Feds

 

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Right-wing extremist Benjamin Jong Ren Hung who, according to FBI court documents, turned his family’s Lodi-area vineyard into a militia-style, illegal firearms training camp — complete with human target mannequins — has signed a plea deal with federal prosecutors. (Full 37-page plea deal document available for premium Wine Executive News subscribers.

 

 

As previously reported by Wine Industry Insight, Hung was initially arrested May 31, by Pasadena, Calif. police after he drove his jacked-up Dodge Ram pickup into a crowd of Black Lives Matters protestors. Among those barely avoiding injury were two undercover police officers.

 

On Nov. 20, 2020, Hung, a resident of the Los Angeles suburb of San Marino, was released by  the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of California (Western Division) on $10 million bond secured mostly by trust deeds on a portion of his family’s substantial real estate holdings.

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Hung was initially scheduled to stand trial in federal court on June 22, but has accepted a plea deal instead.

 

Final judicial sentencing and approval of the plea deal are now scheduled for 10 a.m. Oct. 25 in Federal District Court for the Central District of

California before before Judge Stephen V. Wilson.

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

The following redacted sections are available for premium Wine Executive News subscribers.

• 11 Felony Counts of Conspiracy and Firearms Crimes

• Comply or risk 105 years in prison and a $2,030,000 fine?

• Plea deal consequences: A long list of rights and privileges lost for  a lifetime

• Plea deal document detailed and offers insight into the process