Is the following article about the same "United States Fugitive Enforcement Agency" who caused problems in New York and New Jersey?
United States Attorney
Central District of California
Thom Mrozek, Public Affairs Officer
(213) 894-6947
thom.mrozek@usdoj.gov
August 14, 2000
Two bounty hunters who were convicted in March of impersonating federal officers have been arrested again after one of them masqueraded as a Justice Department official who claimed to be protecting a Russian prince on the Queen Mary.
Larry Cornell Diamond Jr., 21, of Long Beach, was arrested Wednesday afternoon at the Queen Mary on charges of impersonating a federal officer and being a felon in possession of a firearm.
Robert Hyun, 29, of Norwalk, was arrested Friday on charges of being a felon in possession of a firearm.
Security officers at the Hotel Queen Mary on the famous cruise ship observed Diamond with a visible handgun on Tuesday. When they contacted Diamond, he said he a was a federal officer and he showed identification that looked suspicious. A search of records indicated that Diamond registered at the hotel after obtaining a government rate and signing a tax exemption certificate that stated he was official government duties.
A Queen Mary employee identified Hyun as being on the ship with Diamond.
In March, a federal jury convicted Diamond and Hyun of impersonating agents with the Federal Bureau of Investigation. During a two-day trial in United States District Court in Los Angeles, the jury heard evidence that Hyun and Diamond are “bail enforcement agents” – commonly called bounty hunters – who proclaimed to be affiliated with the “United States Fugitive Enforcement Agency.”
The conviction in that case resulted from a dispute involving Hyun's sister that Hyun and Diamond became involved in. The sister, Morgana Hyun, and her fiancé, Shawn Edlund, believed that one of Edlund’s neighbors in San Pedro may have been involved in a theft of two laptop computers from Edlund’s car. On July 13, 1999, Hyun and Diamond created a fake search warrant on a computer. When the victim – who had nothing to do with any theft – arrived home from work, Hyun and Diamond approached her apartment and knocked on her door. Hyun and Diamond identified themselves as FBI agents and stated that they had a search warrant for her apartment. Both men were wearing holstered semiautomatic handguns, and Diamond also showed the victim a silver badge that he said was an FBI badge.
Hyun and Diamond entered the woman's residence and proceeded to search the entire apartment and her automobile. Once inside the apartment, Hyun and Diamond again told the woman that they were FBI agents. Specifically, Hyun and Diamond claimed to be affiliated with a non-existent branch of the FBI known as the FEA or “Federal Emergency Agency.” During their “search,” Hyun and Diamond asserted that Edlund’s stolen computers contained classified government information, which they needed to retrieve.
During the “search,” the victim's uncle arrived. The uncle, who is a volunteer reserve officer with the Los Angeles Police Department, became suspicious and later contacted the LAPD and the FBI. Hyun and Diamond were charged after an investigation by the FBI.
On July 10, Hyun was sentenced by United States District Senior Judge Edward Rafeedie to 10 months in federal prison. He was scheduled to being serving his sentence on August 14
Judge Rafeedie is scheduled to sentence Diamond on September 11. At that time, he could be sentenced to as much as three years in prison.
In relation to the new case, Diamond appeared in federal court on Thursday, when a magistrate judge scheduled a preliminary hearing for August 24 and an arraignment for August 30.
Hyun made his first court appearance Friday afternoon. His preliminary hearing was scheduled for August 25, and his arraignment is set for August 30.
Both men are in custody after being ordered detained without bond.
Both cases against Diamond and Hyun were investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
Release No. 00-149
