SANTA ANA - Cuong Viet Nguyen, a former fugitive featured on "America's Most Wanted" was sentenced today to 55 years to life in state prison for murdering a man in 2005 by shooting him several times outside of a bar after attacking him with a belt, according to the Orange County District Attorney's Office.
Cuong Viet Nguyen, 29, formerly of Garden Grove, was found guilty by a jury March 24, 2010, of one felony count of murder with a sentencing enhancement for the personal discharge of a firearm causing death. The defendant has a prior strike conviction from 1998 for robbery.
On June 26, 2005, Nguyen went with a group of friends to All Star Bar in Stanton and got into a fight inside the bar with another group of men, including victim Tri Van Bui. The bouncers instructed Bui's group to leave the bar.
Nguyen and an unknown friend waited outside of the bar for Bui. After the victim had finished speaking with a bouncer, the defendant and his friend chased and caught the victim, removed their belts and repeatedly hit him in the head using the buckle. When Bui was on the ground, Nguyen pulled out a firearm and murdered the victim by shooting him six times.
Nguyen fled the scene. A warrant was issued for his arrest in 2006. In the spring of 2008, the defendant was featured on the television program "America's Most Wanted." A tip received from a viewer who recognized Nguyen from the show led investigators to Phoenix, where Nguyen was located and arrested in June 2008. The defendant was brought back to Orange County from Arizona on June 18, 2008, to face charges.
Senior Deputy District Attorney Ebrahim Baytieh of the Homicide Unit prosecuted this case.
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