In 2014, Chow along with 28 other defendants including former California State Senator Leland Yee, were indicted for racketeering, money laundering, and a host of other alleged criminal activities.

[7] Chow came to the United States with his parents at the age of 17,[6] and dropped out of high school after approximately one month[6]: 29  when he became involved with the Hop Sing Tong gang.

[10] The manuscript remains unpublished under a restraining order served to Lo in August 2016 after Chow was sentenced to two life terms in prison; no one may publish or profit from it until the government recovers approximately $255,000 in seized assets and fines.

[11] Chow stated he carried a letter of introduction from the leader of his gang in Hong Kong when he emigrated to San Francisco, joining the Hop Sing Boys.

[7] One year after arriving in the city, Chow was involved in the infamous Golden Dragon massacre in 1977, dining at the restaurant with other Hop Sing Boys members.

[7] One year later, in 1986, Chow was charged with 28 counts of assault with a deadly weapon, attempted murder, mayhem, and illegal possession of a firearm, related to the shooting of David Quach, a Wah Ching gang member, at the Golden Key Restaurant in San Francisco.

[2][12][8] After his second release, Chow said he tried to renounce crime and found work as a bagger in a Daly City grocery store, but he left that job when his boss became suspicious after receiving a phone call from the SFPD gang task force.

[8] Chow opened a boy's athletic club in the Hop Sing Tong building basement in San Francisco to recruit new members, drawing from teenagers influenced by the heroic bloodshed genre of Hong Kong action cinema.

Chow claimed he was driving an inebriated friend home from a bar, but was unable to produce the registration and could not account for his whereabouts earlier in the day.

[2][16] Chong was summoned to testify before the United States Senate on November 5, 1991, and was asked if he was the head of the Wo Hop To, and if he was responsible or involved in the murder of Danny Wong.

[17] Chow was arrested on May 31, 1992[6]: 25  for suspected drug dealing at LaGuardia Airport while holding $12,000 in cash, which led him to believe there was a confidential informant within the gang.

Chow had already been arrested on charges of murder for hire, drug trafficking, and illegal firearms,[19] and Chong fled the United States a few days ahead of the racketeering indictment.

[18] The defense strategy also claimed the government's case was simply not credible, as most of the evidence was produced by criminals who were testifying in exchange for reduced sentences.

[27] Leung was also the dragon head of the Hung Moon Ghee Kong Tong (CKT), a fraternal association in San Francisco sometimes referred to as the Chinese Freemasons.

[45] Chow led a Freemason salute to Leung at his funeral on March 18,[27] and ascended to the leadership of the CKT in a ceremony in August 2006, where he received an official certificate of honor from San Francisco, arranged by Supervisor Fiona Ma.

[39] After ascending to the head of CKT, Chow became publicly visible as a mentor to Asian and African American youths, speaking to dozens of community groups each year[7] and receiving congratulations from U.S.

[50] Meanwhile, for 'Operation White Suit', an undercover FBI agent (identified either as UCE 4599 or by the alias "David Jordan") had been introduced to Chow in May 2010 as an East Coast emissary from La Cosa Nostra.

[7] During a June 2010 fishing trip in Hawaii, Chow told "Jordan" and another undercover agent (UCE 4527, "Jimmy Chen") that although he could not be involved in any illegal activities, he could introduce them to people who could.

[51]: 28–29  Chow later introduced "Jordan" to Keith Jackson, president of the San Francisco Board of Education and a close friend of Leland Yee, in August 2010.

"[52] Two years later, Kong and his girlfriend Cindy Bao Feng Chen were found dead in their minivan near Fort Bragg on October 17, 2013; each had been killed by a single gunshot to the head.

[66] Serra blasted the sting operation that led to Chow's arrest as entrapment: "They tempted my client in every fashion to commit a substantive crime.

"[67] One of the key defense strategies, to present possible exculpatory evidence to the public, was denied by U.S. District Court Judge Charles Breyer in May 2014 on the grounds that it could disclose the identity of the undercover FBI agent known as "David Jordan".

[76] Judge Breyer ordered a separate trial for Yee and Jackson on the political bribery and illegal firearms importation charges following a hearing in November 2014.

[77][78] On July 7, 2015, Chow declined to take a plea deal from prosecutors on the racketeering charges and was ordered to stand trial with seven other defendants in November.

[79] Yee and three other defendants had all pleaded guilty to racketeering on July 1; of the three associates, two also admitted to participating in illegal activities through CKT, including narcotics distribution, firearms sales, and murder-for-hire.

Chow's defense team also claimed the trial date of November 2 would result in ineffective representation due to inadequate time to prepare, after receiving more than 100 gigabytes of evidence in discovery after August 25.

[89] After announcing they had uncovered new evidence in September,[90] on October 15, 2015, federal prosecutors formally added charges of conspiracy to murder in connection with the deaths of Allen Leung and Jim Tat Kong.

Serra responded by citing Chow's vow to reform himself and renounce crime after his last release: "This is not the face of a person who has killed to achieve that status [as head of CKT].

[31] In addition, Chow testified the payments that had been pressed upon him by the undercover FBI agent known as David Jordan were accepted only "for his love and respect" and "if anyone tell me it's illegal money, drugs, alcohol ...

[101] Chow's lawyers filed for a new trial, alleging the number of defense witnesses was unfairly limited and previous testimony in 2002 regarding the 1991 murder of Danny Wong had been wrongfully used against him.