SAN JOSE — A 47-year-old San Jose man will serve more than seven years in prison for selling $37 million worth of merchandise stolen from Cisco and blackmailing a former business partner after he was indicted, according to the U.S. Department of Justice.
Cuong Cao “Calvin” Dang, who pleaded guilty in two separate cases, was sentenced in federal court Thursday.
Federal authorities said Dang admitted to running Network Genesis, a business that was “overwhelmingly that of buying and selling merchandise stolen from Cisco,” from January 2006 to January 2013. A small network of Cisco employees supplied the goods, authorities said.
Dang then changed serial numbers on the merchandise and created fake “test sheets” of diagnostic information for his customers in and outside of California, according to federal authorities. In July 2013, a grand jury indicted him on various fraud-related charges.
Under a plea agreement, Dang admitted to one count of conspiracy to commit mail fraud, wire fraud, money laundering and engaging in financial transactions using criminally derived proceeds.
Dang also promised to provide federal authorities with details about his financial dealings. However, he and his wife, Ly Thi Be Le, threatened to expose a former business partner unless she paid $350,000. The former business partner ultimately paid Dang and Le $270,000, a sum Le subsequently gambled away at Cache Creek Casino, authorities said.
A grand jury indicted Dang a second time in March on blackmail, contempt and obstruction of justice charges. His wife also was charged in the same indictment with blackmail and obstruction of justice. On Wednesday, Dang pleaded guilty to the three charges and Le to the blackmail charge. His wife is scheduled to be sentenced on Dec. 11.
Dang, who also owned a residential and commercial real estate company and bought property using profits from Network Genesis, said his motivation to make money blinded him to the wrongness of his conduct, according to a sentencing memorandum filed by his attorney, Frank Ubhaus.
“I am feeling very sad because the consequences of my conduct are now unraveling and impacting so many people I love and care about,” Dang said in a pre-sentencing interview with the U.S. Probation Office. “I am very remorseful and wish that I could have a chance to go back in time to take a different path to have a normal life in which I work and earn earnest pay and enjoy my time with my wife and four children.”
Other co-defendants in the case include Loc Xuan Hoang, Thuy Nguyen, Long Pham and Edwin Lin. U.S. District Court Judge Edward Davila sentenced Hoang, a former Cisco employee, to 14 months in prison. Nguyen received 15 months, Pham one year and Lin time served.
Two others — Emily Le and David Hyunh — are scheduled to be sentenced sometime next year.
Dang, who also was ordered to serve three years of supervised probation, will begin serving his sentence immediately.
