Bob Mackin
A Chinese Communist government official’s son — who became loan shark Paul King Jin’s driver — was sentenced May 29 in Vancouver to more than seven years in jail.
B.C. Supreme Court Justice Janet Winteringham agreed to the joint Crown/defence sentencing proposal of two years in jail for the accessory conviction and three years consecutive for each of the weapons offences — a total eight years. Winteringham gave Lei 309 days credit for time served before the sentencing.
Paul King Jin (BCLC/Cullen Commission)
Winteringham accepted Lei’s statement of remorse and said his guilty pleas were a mitigating factor that saved court time.
“His conduct had the potential to interfere with a murder investigation,” Winteringham said. Although he was not involved in the planning of the shooting of Zhu and Jin, he knew about it and was involved in what was occurring. She also said he caused danger to the public by shooting the gun in South Vancouver.
Last September, Justice Jeanne Watchuk convicted Richard Charles Reed of the first degree murder of Zhu, but acquitted him of attempting to murder Jin. Watchuk said Reed coordinated the shooting “directly and indirectly with Gordon Ma, Lei, and Jin Cai to prepare for and carry out the murder.”
Winteringham heard during April’s sentencing that Cai owed Jin and Zhu a large sum of money, but he wanted to kill them instead of paying the debt. Ma asked Lei to commit the murders, but he declined. Lei drove with Ma to Reed’s residence and saw him give Reed a firearm. After the shooting, Ma burned Reed’s clothing in the garage at Lei’s residence on Bowcock Road in Richmond.
Silver International underground banker Jian Jun Zhu.
Before coming to Vancouver, Lei had been a well-known, classically trained opera singer in China who went on to study in London, England and Houston, Texas. He became addicted to crystal meth beginning in 2018.
Lei tried to delay the May 29 hearing by a week. Through a Mandarin translator, he wanted to provide information to police “to arrest the person who actually committed the crime.”
Winteringham rejected the last-ditch application because Lei did not take any steps during the previous five weeks. He had already failed to change his guilty plea and delayed proceedings in order to obtain documents and change lawyers.
Winteringham said that Lei’s mother was a department head for Overseas Affairs in the Chinese government and his father a senior police officer in China. Lei is a permanent resident of Canada and subject to a removal order by Canada Border Services Agency pending sentencing.
At the end of the hearing, Winteringham expressed hope for Lei’s rehabilitation.
“You wanting to be a good role model for your children, that is important,” the judge said.
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