Woman gang boss gets 18 years in jail
Woman gang boss gets 18 years in jail
10:10, November 04, 2009 
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CHONGQING: The only woman gang boss arrested in Chongqing's massive crackdown was sentenced to 18 years in jail yesterday.
Xie Caiping, 46, called "Sister Xie" by many, was allegedly protected by the former director of the Chongqing judicial bureau, Wen Qiang, 52, who is Xie's brother-in-law. Wen has been arrested and will face trial by the end of the month.
The Chongqing No 5 People's Intermediate Court ruled that Xie, a native of Dayan village in Jiulongpo district, must pay a fine of 1.02 million yuan ($149,000) and spend 18 years in jail.
She was convicted of organizing and leading a mafia-style gang, operating gambling dens, illegal detaining people, harboring drug users and bribing officials.
Guo Sheng, former chief of Chongqing's Huangnibang police station, and police officer Gan Yong were respectively sentenced to 13 and 12 years behind bars for accepting 180,000 yuan in bribes. Both have appealed to a higher court.
Jail sentences ranging from two to 13 years were also handed down to 18 members of the gang.
The well-organized gang reaped 2 million yuan in profit from gambling businesses, prosecutors said.
Each member played a role in Xie's dozens of gambling dens housed in hotels, tea houses and rural resorts in several districts including Yubei, Gaoxin, Yuzhong and Shapingba from 2004 to August last year.
Some gang members set up gambling rules, and some maintained order in the dens. Some lent money to gamblers, while some collected commissions from winners. Others stood guard outside the dens.
"The gang practiced illegal detentions, harbored narcotics takers and bribed officers to seek protection. This generated serious repercussions and grimly disrupted normal social lives," according to the written verdict.
Both Xie and her 26-year-old driver, Luo Xuan, who lived with Xie, said they will consider appealing to a higher court.
Outside the courtroom, residents expressed their concerns about the short sentences for Xie and her co-defendants.
"Bear this in mind: She, to our great surprise, is the commander of an organized gang. I doubt if we can rehabilitate her within 18 years," said Xu Caimeng, 44, an employee of a telecom company.
Another local retiree in her 60s who only gave her surname as Li said Xie's sentence is short considering the damage she did.
"Drugs and gambling can destroy families completely," she said. "Harboring people to do such activities is as bad as poisoning them."
The trial did not reveal any connection with the former judicial head, Wen Qiang.
The allegation among locals and media comes from the fact that some of Xie's gambling houses were geographically close to law enforcement departments.
Global People, a publication of the People's Daily, reported a gambling den was rooted inside a luxurious hotel facing the municipal high people's court, municipal procuratorate and municipal national security agency. A second one hid in the Guanyindong teahouse "under the foot of the former Shibanpo police station" and a third one in the Yujing teahouse was "near the Huangnibang police station".
Xie was reportedly detained and stripped of her job in a government tax bureau in 2005 due to her gambling addiction. But according to the court, Xie started to establish a gambling business in 2004. This fueled the public's suspicion that Xie was able to do so only with protection from Wen.
The publication quoted gamblers as saying, "in Sister Xie's territory, we can rest assured that we can play cards (gamble) and do drugs," indicating that police would not interfere with Xie's businesses because of her unusual relations with Wen, then deputy director of the Chongqing municipal public security bureau.
Wen, and former deputy chief of Chongqing police, Peng Changjian, 46, are expected to stand trial at the end of this month for allegedly protecting gangs.
Source:China Daily
Xie Caiping, 46, called "Sister Xie" by many, was allegedly protected by the former director of the Chongqing judicial bureau, Wen Qiang, 52, who is Xie's brother-in-law. Wen has been arrested and will face trial by the end of the month.
The Chongqing No 5 People's Intermediate Court ruled that Xie, a native of Dayan village in Jiulongpo district, must pay a fine of 1.02 million yuan ($149,000) and spend 18 years in jail.
She was convicted of organizing and leading a mafia-style gang, operating gambling dens, illegal detaining people, harboring drug users and bribing officials.
Guo Sheng, former chief of Chongqing's Huangnibang police station, and police officer Gan Yong were respectively sentenced to 13 and 12 years behind bars for accepting 180,000 yuan in bribes. Both have appealed to a higher court.
Jail sentences ranging from two to 13 years were also handed down to 18 members of the gang.
The well-organized gang reaped 2 million yuan in profit from gambling businesses, prosecutors said.
Each member played a role in Xie's dozens of gambling dens housed in hotels, tea houses and rural resorts in several districts including Yubei, Gaoxin, Yuzhong and Shapingba from 2004 to August last year.
Some gang members set up gambling rules, and some maintained order in the dens. Some lent money to gamblers, while some collected commissions from winners. Others stood guard outside the dens.
"The gang practiced illegal detentions, harbored narcotics takers and bribed officers to seek protection. This generated serious repercussions and grimly disrupted normal social lives," according to the written verdict.
Both Xie and her 26-year-old driver, Luo Xuan, who lived with Xie, said they will consider appealing to a higher court.
Outside the courtroom, residents expressed their concerns about the short sentences for Xie and her co-defendants.
"Bear this in mind: She, to our great surprise, is the commander of an organized gang. I doubt if we can rehabilitate her within 18 years," said Xu Caimeng, 44, an employee of a telecom company.
Another local retiree in her 60s who only gave her surname as Li said Xie's sentence is short considering the damage she did.
"Drugs and gambling can destroy families completely," she said. "Harboring people to do such activities is as bad as poisoning them."
The trial did not reveal any connection with the former judicial head, Wen Qiang.
The allegation among locals and media comes from the fact that some of Xie's gambling houses were geographically close to law enforcement departments.
Global People, a publication of the People's Daily, reported a gambling den was rooted inside a luxurious hotel facing the municipal high people's court, municipal procuratorate and municipal national security agency. A second one hid in the Guanyindong teahouse "under the foot of the former Shibanpo police station" and a third one in the Yujing teahouse was "near the Huangnibang police station".
Xie was reportedly detained and stripped of her job in a government tax bureau in 2005 due to her gambling addiction. But according to the court, Xie started to establish a gambling business in 2004. This fueled the public's suspicion that Xie was able to do so only with protection from Wen.
The publication quoted gamblers as saying, "in Sister Xie's territory, we can rest assured that we can play cards (gamble) and do drugs," indicating that police would not interfere with Xie's businesses because of her unusual relations with Wen, then deputy director of the Chongqing municipal public security bureau.
Wen, and former deputy chief of Chongqing police, Peng Changjian, 46, are expected to stand trial at the end of this month for allegedly protecting gangs.
Source:China Daily
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