A federal grand jury in Seattle has indicted two men on charges of racketeering and conspiracy, alleging they operated a multistate home-invasion robbery and kidnapping ring that often targeted Asian people and was responsible for the shooting death of an Everett woman in 2022.
The indictment names Kevin Thissel, 28, and Christopher Johnson, 23, as operating a criminal enterprise "engaged in, among other things, acts of violence, robbery, kidnapping, murder and burglary" in Washington, Arizona and elsewhere.
The men are suspected in the Aug. 19, 2022, shooting death of 36-year-old Irah Marcelo Sok, who was killed in bed while lying next to her 7-year-old son and husband, according to Snohomish County Sheriff Susanna Johnson. Officials said three armed, masked men kicked down the bedroom door of the home at 3 a.m. after breaking into the house. The men bound Sok's husband with zip ties and ransacked the house, taking a number of luxury items, officials said.
Snohomish County Prosecutor Jason Cummings said he anticipates his office will file state homicide charges against the men "soon."
Several other home-invasion robberies in Pierce, Skagit and Snohomish counties seemed similar to what happened in the Everett home, and that led detectives to eventually identify an organized effort.
"The indictment alleges that in the summer of 2022, these men targeted certain families for robberies," said U.S. Attorney Tessa Gorman. "To create a climate of fear, these men burst into their homes in the middle of the night, dressed in black, claiming to be police and with guns drawn."
Gorman announced the indictments at a news conference Thursday, flanked by law enforcement leaders from the FBI, King and Snohomish counties, Everett, Kent and Mount Vernon. She said Thissel, Johnson and others "terrorized our community" and warrant being charged with federal crimes that carry life sentences if convicted.
They are charged under the federal Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act, which was last used by federal prosecutors in Seattle in 2009 to prosecute strip club magnate Frank Colacurcio Sr., his son and four associates. Before that, Gorman tried a RICO case in 2006 that was used to break up a violent local chapter of the Hells Angels outlaw motorcycle club.
RICO allows federal prosecutors to sweep up crimes that might otherwise not qualify for federal jurisdiction — state charges of robbery or homicide, for example — into a federal case against an organization committing those crimes and its leaders.
Both men have been in custody on unrelated charges, Gorman said. Thissel has been in federal custody on charges of possessing a gun while a felon. He has prior convictions of assault with a firearm and is facing state charges in Pierce County for an assault that involved a shooting, according to a news release.
Johnson is serving a 90-month state prison sentence for domestic violence convictions.
Johnson on Thursday appeared before U.S. District Judge Ricardo Martinez and pleaded not guilty. The government is seeking detention pending trial.
Thissel is in custody but has not appeared in federal court to answer the charges.
The indictment, handed up by the grand jury Wednesday, alleges that during summer 2022, Thissel, Johnson and a "crew" of others — including some juveniles — were responsible for the home-invasion robberies.
Officials said the investigation is continuing and that additional arrests are expected.
The indictment says the two men were responsible for operating a series of "crews" of as many as four individuals who would target, surveil and rob homes and businesses believed to contain valuables. The indictment alleges that the crews used a common "modus operandi" of targeting homes in the early morning, disabling security cameras and then kicking in a door, often announcing themselves as police.
The victims, including any children, would be corralled into a single room and bound with zip ties, the indictment alleges. The perpetrators used designated drivers and sometimes relied on juveniles within the organization to transport the stolen goods.
The robbers would threaten the victims at gunpoint and in some cases take a victim to an ATM to withdraw cash.
The indictment alleges the crews often targeted Asian people because they considered them "to be 'weaker.'" Gorman said her office would review the case for possible criminal civil-rights charges.
A state prosecution, such as for the homicide, would not affect the federal RICO prosecution, Gorman said.
In support of the allegation of racketeering, the indictment outlines seven "distinct racketeering acts" in 2022 including the May 24 robbery of a family in Mount Vernon; the July 14 robbery of a couple in Burien; the July 28 robbery of a woman in Kent, who was abducted and taken to a cash machine and forced to withdraw money; and the Aug. 19 robbery at the Sok home in Everett that resulted in homicide.
"These senseless acts of violence have profoundly affected our community, leaving a young child without his mother," said Sheriff Johnson. "This investigation was exceptionally complex and we would not have reached this point without the dedicated efforts of numerous agencies working together to identify the suspects and hold them accountable."
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