Working with his now ex-wife, Sandra, Choi skimmed income from his law firm in Cheltenham and filed false federal income tax returns, jurors found when Choi was convicted in August.
"When a lawyer uses his law license to defraud the government," Crawley said Thursday, "and when he refuses to pay his taxes . . . a significant prison sentence is called for."
U.S. District Judge Petrese B. Tucker also ordered Choi to pay the IRS $161,538 in back taxes. The sentence was issued after an almost full-day hearing at which Choi presented a number of character witnesses, some of whom flew in from Korea.
In court filings, defense attorney Catherine M. Recker argued that Choi's criminal activity was "aberrational," calling him an "extraordinary person" who was deserving of a lenient sentence. The U.S. Attorney's Office had sought a sentence of up to 61 months.
Choi has been in federal prison since his bail was revoked in April, when urine tests indicated cocaine use.
The evidence presented in Choi's 12-day trial in August convinced a jury the Korean-born lawyer bribed employers to lie and had clients make false statements to U.S. Citizenship and Immigration Service officials to manipulate the immigration system. They included chefs and at least one mechanic.
"The entire purpose of the immigration fraud was financial: to generate money for Choi to spend as he pleased without reporting it to the IRS," Crawley told the judge.
Also, Crawley noted that Choi had embezzled $70,000 from an elderly client.
Choi had been chairman of a state Advisory Commission on Asian American Affairs, and, working out of his Cheltenham office, his practice won headlines for class-action lawsuits about Agent Orange, the "No Gun Ri" massacre of the Korean War, and slave labor in Japan. He was a frequent guest on television newsmagazines.
Choi was convicted of exploiting the government's Employment Certification Program, which grants green cards for permanent U.S. residency to immigrants whose U.S. employers can certify that they have certain skills not available in the American labor force.
He was charged with soliciting cooperative employers to falsely claim they intended to employ Choi's immigrant clients as Asian specialty chefs. He also was charged with enticing a Philadelphia employer to say he needed an automotive electronics specialist.
The defense contended that any improprieties were Sandra Choi's and that her husband was unaware of her actions.
Contact staff writer Nathan Gorenstein at 215-854-2797 or ngorenstein@phillynews.com.
