TYLER, Texas — A Tyler man was sentenced to more than eight years in prison on federal gun charges.
According to the Department of Justice, 25-year-old Heon Jong Yoo, also known as Hank Yoo or the 'Asian Nazi,' was found guilty on November 15 of seven counts of false statements regarding firearms transactions and one county of unlawful possession by a prohibited person.
“Law enforcement most likely saved lives with the arrest of Hank Yoo,” United States Attorney Joseph D. Brown said.
Following his sentence, Yoo will also surrender to immigration officials for deportation to South Korea.
The DOJ says Yoo was a legal immigrants who was studying at UT-Tyler but falsely identified himself as a U.S. citizen to buy weapons on seven occasions.
“Questions on the ATF Form 4473 are designed to identify prohibitors such as felony offenses, adjudicated mental illness, or substance abuse," ATF Special Agent in Charge Jeffrey C. Boshek II said. “His overall, evolving pattern of conduct sounded alarms at institutions and communities throughout Texas.”
Yoo was involuntarily committed to a mental institution in New Jersey in 2013 and 2015.
“At multiple schools were he had attended, administrators had worried about his increasing threatening behavior," Brown said. "And when you mix in his history of mental issues and that he was lying to get access to firearms, the situation could have ended badly.”
When Yoo was arrested, he was found to be in possession of multiple firearms, ammunition and firearm accessories.
He was indicted in April of 2018 by a federal grand jury. Yoo received a superseding indictment in September of 2018.
Yoo has previous charges in Smith County that include aggravated assault with a deadly weapon and criminal trespassing.
Several federal, state and local agencies helped to investigate the case including:
- ATF
- FBI
- Texas Rangers
- Smith County Sheriff's Office
- Tyler Police Department
- UT-Tyler Police Department
- Department of Homeland Security
- Dallas Police Department
- Plano Police Department
- Prosper Police Department
- Collin College Police Department
- Dallas County Community College District Police Department
- Rutgers University Police Department
- University of Connecticut Police Department
