San Diego
A 19-year-old man convicted of killing a computer software engineer prominent in San Diego’s Vietnamese community was sentenced Monday to 36 years to life in state prison.
Tuan Van Tran received consecutive sentences for the Feb. 2 murder of Huy Le, 42, and for convictions on two robbery counts. San Diego Superior Court Judge Bernard Revak also fined Tran $20,000.
Le was shot to death while apparently coming to the rescue of a 13-year-old girl who was threatened by gunmen in the home of a Vietnamese publisher on Polk Avenue.
Revak denied motions by defense attorney Kay Sunday for a new trial and reduction of Tran’s first-degree murder conviction to second-degree.
A co-defendant, Tho Van Tran, 17, has been certified by Juvenile Court to be tried as an adult Nov. 15, said Deputy Dist. Atty. Peter Deddeh. The two Trans are not related.
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