Man Held as Accessory in Agent Killings

A 20-year-old San Gabriel Valley man who claims he was trying to dissuade a friend from participating in a planned “rip-off” that led to the shooting deaths of two federal drug agents last week was charged Thursday with being an accessory in the bloody confrontation in Pasadena and San Marino.

If convicted, Michael Chia could face a possible life prison term for his involvement in the shooting deaths of Drug Enforcement Administration Agents Paul Seema and George Montoya on Feb. 5. Two suspects also were killed when an undercover operation went awry and suspected drug dealers opened fire on them, U.S. Atty. Robert C. Bonner said.

The defendant, who also faces charges of abetting an assault and abetting a robbery of a federal agent, appeared in Los Angeles federal court on Thursday for a preliminary hearing. U.S. Magistrate Robert M. Stone continued the case until Feb. 17.

Spotted by Agents

Chia was allegedly spotted by back-up agents in a restaurant parking lot shortly before the shooting as Montoya, Seema and fellow Agent Jose Martinez arranged a heroin buy with suspected drug dealer Wen Hue Kow. The agents reported seeing him talking with William Wang, another suspected drug dealer whom, authorities said, Chia has described as “a close and trusted friend.”

Wang, 18, who was seriously wounded in the shoot-out, told authorities that Chia, who had foreknowledge of the planned rip-off, was there to try to persuade him “not to do it,” according to an affidavit filed in court Thursday. Failing that, Chia decided to remain in the parking lot and serve as a kind of “bodyguard” or “lookout” for Wang, the document said.

But when Chia stopped to make a telephone call, he lost contact with Wang, the affidavit said.

Minutes later, on a Pasadena street, the alleged drug dealers took $80,000 in “buy money” from the undercover agents at gunpoint, then opened fire on them. Seema and Montoya were killed and Martinez was shot in the legs.

‘Don’t Kill Us’

According to Martinez, Seema pleaded with his killers as he handed over the money: “Please don’t kill us.”

In a subsequent shoot-out with backup agents in San Marino, Kow and Michael Soo were shot dead. Wang, who has been charged with the murders of the two agents, was shot eight times.

Also appearing before Stone on Thursday were Linda Lynn Cheng, 20, and Jimmy Sun, 19, who were arrested along with Chia two hours after the shooting. The two, who were designated as material witnesses, were originally described by federal authorities as having sped away from the scene of the Pasadena shoot-out in a black Mitsubishi, along with Chia.

But lawyers representing Cheng, a student at California State University, Los Angeles, and Sun said Thursday that when their clients were arrested, they were driving to a Pasadena court where Cheng planned to pay a traffic fine.

1,000 Mourners

Sun, who is on probation on a traffic offense, was ordered held until Feb. 17 and Cheng was released on a $10,000 surety bond.

On Thursday afternoon, about 1,000 mourners, including representatives from almost 100 law enforcement agencies, gathered at Rose Hills Memorial Park in Whittier for Montoya’s funeral.

The 34-year-old agent had been with the DEA only one month, having transferred from the U.S. Immigration and Naturalization Service.

“A promising career was neutralized by the violence generated by drug abuse in this country,” DEA Administrator John Lawn said in a eulogy.

Seema, who would have been 52 last Sunday, was memorialized Wednesday at a ceremony in Simi Valley. He had been with the DEA since 1973.