Final suspect pleads guilty in hammer attack pot robbery

Sep. 9—Stating the driver who waited in a car was just as culpable as the two co-defendants who used clown masks and hand tools in a violent marijuana robbery near Eagle Point, a judge refused to go along with a lenient plea deal.

Kien Vinh Vong, 49, of Sacramento, California, will serve the full mandatory-minimum 70-month sentence after pleading guilty Wednesday in Jackson County Circuit Court to felony charges of second-degree robbery, unlawful use of a weapon and first-degree burglary, while admitting to his role as the one who bought clown masks and hand tools used in an Oct. 21, 2021, robbery of a marijuana grow at 40 Lake Creek Loop.

The plea agreement negotiated between Vong's defense lawyer, Michael Kellington, and the deputy district attorneys who prosecuted the case, Ruby Herriott and Patrick Green, called for a prison sentence of 35 months.

Kellington said the grounds for the lenient plea agreement included that Vong waited in the car while his since-convicted co-defendants, Vay San Duong, 52, and Funan Wu, 49, committed the robbery at a location where seven individuals resided.

One of the victims was struck in the back three times, another victim was hospitalized after being struck with a blunt object, and a third person was held at gunpoint until Duong and Wu could load up a vehicle belonging to one of the victims.

Judge Kelly Ravassipour said during the hearing that the court was not bound to any offer, and that she would not be following the recommended sentence.

She called the crime "violent and premeditated" and cited "aggravating factors" in the case that included "deliberate cruelty."

"Because he's the driver of the vehicle makes him no less culpable than those who held the gun," Ravassipour said.

Kellington acknowledged that Vong bought the clown masks and hand tools at a Yreka, California, Walmart, but said his client didn't believe the tools would be used on victims. He said the ringleader, Wu, ordered his client to stay in the car.

"Mr. Vong did not intend or anticipate any of of the violence," Kellington claimed.

Jackson County sheriff's deputies arrested Vong at the scene of the robbery, and Wu was captured five days later after he reportedly attempted to board a school bus near Highway 140 and Salt Creek Road, prompting the bus driver to call police, according to an earlier news report.

Kellington said the lenient offer was also because Vong cooperated with law enforcement early on, which helped close the cases against Wu and Duong. Wu was sentenced to 90 months in prison, and Duong got 70 months.

He asked Ravassipour to stick to the negotiated plea.

"The state did not negotiate with me," Ravassipour said. "I just want to make it clear on the record the state did not negotiate with me."

Vong was sentenced to 70 months on the second-degree robbery conviction, followed by three years of post-prison supervision, and ordered restitution of $900 joint and several with the two co-defendants.

She further sentenced Vong to 20 months in prison on the weapon use conviction and 18 months on the burglary conviction, both of which will run concurrent to the Measure 11 robbery sentence.

Reach web editor Nick Morgan at 541-776-4471 or nmorgan@rosebudmedia.com. Follow him on Twitter @MTwebeditor.