Ng Sentenced to 4 1/2 Years for Canadian Robbery

Charles Ng, a former U.S. Marine suspected in as many as 25 sex-torture slayings in California, was sentenced Tuesday to 4 1/2 years in prison on unrelated charges stemming from his arrest in July for shoplifting.

Ng, 24, was acquitted of the attempted murder of a department store security guard, but Judge Allan Sulatycky found him guilty of armed robbery, aggravated assault and unlawful use of a firearm during his arrest July 6 in a department store in this Alberta city.

Ng would have faced a maximum sentence of life in prison on the attempted murder charge, but Sulatycky ruled that he did not intend to kill the guard, who was shot in the hand as authorities arrested the suspect for shoplifting.

Both the defense and prosecution asked the judge to ignore anything he might have heard about allegations against Ng in California.

Ng, a native of Hong Kong, became the focus of an international manhunt last June, after his friend, Leonard Lake, committed suicide in a San Francisco police station.

Police later found the remains of at least 10 people at Lake’s 2 1/2-acre mountain retreat in Calaveras County, about 150 miles east of San Francisco.

California authorities believe that Lake and Ng may be responsible for the deaths of up to 25 people and expect to file a formal extradition request by mid-January.

Ng, who faces nine counts of murder in California, could be sentenced to death if convicted in the United States.

Under a 1976 extradition treaty, however, Canada is not obliged to return alleged criminals to the United States if they face the death penalty.

The decision may ultimately rest with Justice Minister John Crosbie who, like Prime Minister Brian Mulroney, is opposed to capital punishment. Both are under pressure from their Progressive Conservative colleagues to reconsider the issue.