Two trucking company owners & two USPS employees handed federal sentences for $1.5M trucking contract bribery scheme

Two trucking company owners and two USPS employees have been sentenced to federal prison for a $1.5 million trucking contract bribery scheme. 

former USPS Senior Network Analyst , 52-year-old Zechariah Yi, and 51-year-old USPS employee Tai Ryoung Rho, both of Aurora, Colorado solicited and accepted about $1.5 million in kickbacks from trucking company owners Wan Jin Yoon of Plano, Texas, 51, and Hong Jin Yoon of Denver, 48. 

“The defendants fraudulently secured a government contract in a scheme that involved paying kickbacks to government employees, who misused their positions of trust with the U.S. Postal Service for personal gain,” said FBI Dallas Special Agent in Charge R. Joseph Rothrock, reported CBS News.

All four men pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit honest services wire fraud, and Yi pleaded guilty to receiving a bribe by a public official. All four were sentenced on March 26th and 27th. Yi was sentenced to 42 months, Rho was sentenced to 30 months, Wan Yoon was sentenced to 24 months, and Hong Yoon was sentenced to 3 months – all in federal prison. The group must also hand over two vehicles and $300,000 in cash.

“The public must have confidence that Postal Service employees will conduct their work in an honest manner,” said Kevin Cloninger, Executive Special Agent in Charge, U.S. Postal Service Office of Inspector General. “When employees commit serious offenses, such as taking bribes, they will be aggressively investigated and prosecuted by Special Agents with the USPS OIG.”   

U.S. Attorney Ryan Raybould said the defendants “resorted to bribery and corruption simply to line their own pockets.”