The kingpin of the Ping On gang that terrorised Boston's Chinatown for more than a decade has been found guilty of conspiracy to murder and racketeering. Hong Kong native Stephen Tse Chun-on, 47, remained stoic as the verdicts were announced at the US District Court on Thursday, after jurors deliberated for less than four hours. Family members and friends groaned in anguish as prosecuting Government Attorney Susan Hanson-Philbrick said: 'Tse's conviction closes a chapter of violence and crime for the people of Boston's Chinatown.' He was found guilty of ordering the assassination of two rivals in 1988. The jury heard evidence that on the night of December 29 that year, Tse, angered when he learned that two rivals threatened his position of power in Chinatown, ordered their murders. He instructed several of his followers to kill Chao Van-meng and Dai Keung by shooting them in the testicles 'until they burst'. However, the gunmen were terrible marksmen, the court heard, and although nearly 30 shots were fired at the targets, shattering cars and lodging bullets in nearby walls, no one was seriously hurt. Known as the 'Sky Dragon', Tse was arrested at the Lowu border crossing trying to flee from Hong Kong to China in 1994, and was extradited to the US. He faces a maximum term of 30 years' imprisonment and a $750,000 fine when he is sentenced on October 7.
