Shop Owner Who Fueled Protest Begins Sentence
The man who sparked furious protests in Little Saigon by hanging a poster of Ho Chi Minh and flying a Vietnamese flag in his store is scheduled to begin serving a 90-day jail sentence today for selling bootleg videos.
During the 1999 protests at Truong Van Tran’s shop, a 53-day demonstration that drew up to 15,000 people at times, police said they spotted 147 videocassette recorders in the video store. Police later determined that Tran had more than 17,000 bootleg videos at his shop, Hi Tek TV & VCR.
Tran, 39, of Stanton had been free on bail while he appealed his conviction. The state Supreme Court refused to hear his case.
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