Man Gets Life in Kidnapping of Boy, 3

A 24-year-old Monterey Park man was sentenced Monday to life in prison for kidnapping a 3-year-old boy and demanding $1.5 million in ransom.

Lung Ly received the maximum penalty for kidnapping Ernest Chan from his San Marino home in March 2000. The boy was found unharmed in a Los Angeles apartment two weeks later.

A Los Angeles County Superior Court jury found Ly guilty in June on seven counts, including kidnapping for ransom, residential burglary, conspiracy and child endangerment.

Superior Court Judge Lance Ito called the kidnapping a “planned, sophisticated operation” before denying a motion Monday for a new trial and sentencing Ly to life in prison with the possibility of parole. Ito added 12 years for the other counts.

Ito said he took into consideration a letter from the victim’s mother describing the terror her son endured. “I am not capable of describing how horrible this must have been for this child,” Ito said.

Ernest Chan was taken from his San Marino home after two masked intruders broke into the house and tied up an elderly housekeeper, authorities said. After several ransom calls, police rescued the boy from an apartment in southeast Los Angeles. Ly is one of seven people charged in connection with the kidnapping. Three others have been convicted and a fourth was acquitted. A jury deadlocked in the case of Kei Chang, who authorities believe orchestrated the kidnapping. The other defendant, Sokkha Khy, is awaiting trial.

Ly maintained his innocence Monday and said he was framed by the other defendants.

“I never realized it was a kidnapping,” Ly said through a Cantonese interpreter. “I was wronged.”

His grandfather, Kuong Ly, also testified on his behalf during the sentencing hearing, saying that Ly was injured as a child in a Thai refugee camp and has not been well since. “He’s not a complete person,” Kuong Ly said. “He sometimes acts foolish.”

Defense attorney Natalie Parisky said outside court that her client was operating in the dark and that he did not intend to kidnap the child.

But Deputy Dist. Atty. Marian Thompson said that the defendant’s claims were absurd and that Ly was a willing participant in the kidnapping. “He exhibited absolutely zero remorse for the crime,” she said. “He continued to place blame elsewhere.”