Man Gets 46 Months for Role in Plot to Kill Slaying Witness

A former Tustin private investigator was sentenced Tuesday to 46 months in prison for his role in a plot to murder a witness in the slaying of a California Highway Patrol officer.

Daniel Watkins, 48, pleaded guilty June 14 to being an accessory to a plot masterminded by gang leader Hung Thanh Mai, 28. Watkins, who has been already been jailed a year, will serve about three more years, Assistant U.S. Atty. Marc Greenberg said.

U.S. District Judge David O. Carter in Santa Ana followed the recommendation of prosecutors, the probation department and the defense in giving Watkins a term of nearly four years, Greenberg said.

Watkins, who had faced a possible five-year sentence, was a member of Mai’s defense team. Mai was charged with the July 13, 1996, murder of rookie CHP Officer Don Burt Jr. during a traffic stop in Fullerton.

While jailed, Mai plotted to kill Alex Nguyen, who lived in Houston. Mai unwittingly hired an undercover Santa Ana police officer to carry out the hit, and authorities faked Nguyen’s killing to trick Mai.

Watkins’ role, according to a federal indictment, was to travel to Houston to find Nguyen and his family.

Mai pleaded guilty to orchestrating the murder conspiracy and was sentenced to 24 years in prison. He also was convicted of Burt’s murder and could face the death penalty when sentenced later this month.