By Thomas K. Pendergast

Court documents reveal new details about a San Francisco Police Department (SFPD) and Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) raid on a Noriega Street business last summer that resulted in the arrest of a man charged with orchestrating an armed robbery in Portland, Ore.

Cankun He, 31, was arrested inside Xian Fine Foods restaurant during the early morning of Aug. 4 and booked on a felony charge of conspiracy to commit robbery affecting interstate commerce.

The federal indictment alleges four of his co-conspirators, Hailong Ma, 30, Yuziang Wei, 25, Jordan Cantie, 48 and Robert Maynard, 41, all from the San Francisco Bay Area, drove up to Portland, Ore. on April 14 and committed armed robbery of 200 Apple iPhones and five cameras.

During the robbery, according to the indictment, they wore fake FBI jackets, bullet-proof vests and used red-blue flashing lights to imitate law enforcement. It is alleged that while Ma and Wei waited nearby, Cantie and Maynard forced employees into the building at gunpoint, then zip-tied and threatened them.

The suspects are accused of meeting He the next day and giving him the iPhones, which He accepted. The indictment alleges that He also participated in the planning of the robbery and recruited Cantie.

Ma, Wei and Maynard tried the same thing again in Portland on May 19, but were caught and Maynard was arrested. Ma and Wei were arrested on Aug. 1.

Wei is now facing felony charges with the others but is out on $50,000 bail. If convicted, each defendant faces up to 20 years in prison and a fine of $250,000.

Federal court documents released since then allege that during the police raid, He tried to hide in a crawlspace in the ceiling for 15-20 minutes before he left and submitted to arrest.

The prosecution for the U.S. Attorney’s Office states that with a warrant served, which was “obtained as part of a human trafficking investigation, officers searched an unlicensed karaoke bar located at 2543 Noriega St. in San Francisco. Two imitation firearms were found along with indicia tying them to He. Officers also found ketamine in three different locations.”

That same morning, police also raided He’s residence, where prosecutors now allege they found and seized three firearms, as well as narcotics. One gun was loaded with a single round and was hidden under the living room table, affixed using a magnet.

“The living room also contained ‘stacks’ of counterfeit U.S. currency,” states the prosecution.

“Officers found two more guns (both unloaded) in He’s bedroom. One had an obliterated serial number and was found next to a loaded magazine. The other firearm was a privately manufactured firearm (or ‘ghost gun’) found in a safe, along with one loaded and one unloaded magazine. More ‘stacks’ of counterfeit money were found, as well as two bags of suspected methamphetamine (22.3 grams) and two bags of suspected ketamine (1.6 grams). All four bags tested presumptive positive for methamphetamine and ketamine, respectively.”

The prosecution further alleges they suspect He of human trafficking; “forcing women – mostly, if not entirely, from China – into working at his karaoke bar.

“According to a source, He would hire women and take their IDs and/or passports. He and his associates would then pressure the women working as hostesses at his bar to use drugs. The women had to generate a certain amount of money each night by drinking and using drugs with customers. Though the drugs were initially free, He would start charging the women for the drugs they used once the women formed a habit. These drugs included methamphetamine, marijuana, cocaine and ketamine.”

And then there was a third warrant served that morning, when SFPD officers searched the residence believed to house three women suspected of being trafficked by He.

“After the residence was searched, the three women were interviewed. One woman referred to He as ‘the boss.’ According to her, she met He through advertisements for waitresses posted on a Chinese website. The women were expected to drink and do drugs with men ‘as well as let them touch them everywhere.’ Some men ‘would take the girls outside and they would not return until the next day,’” the prosecution alleges.

One woman reported that He had taken one of her passports. Another that she saw him in possession of identification cards belonging to other women. Yet another woman claimed she had never been paid for working but was “too scared to ask about her wages because (He) and other have told her about the things he’s done.”

They said they had to give He 30-40% of their earnings.

He has pled “not guilty.”

In an Oct. 7 response to the government’s allegations, the Federal Public Defender’s office countered that “the government’s evidence that Mr. He was involved in this robbery is scanty.”

Although officers obtained Cantie’s phone, which prosecutors allege show evidence of He’s involvement, “it neither submitted nor even summarized that evidence. The government’s conclusory assertions about the evidence would have been insufficient under the probable cause standard; they are not close to clear-and-convincing proof of Mr. He’s guilt.”

Regarding the other robbery on May 19, the defense claims that Ma and Wei planned that one without He.

“Those defendants allegedly planning a second robbery renders Mr. He less culpable than them and undercuts any inference that he directed them.”

As for the sex trafficking allegations:

“The government did not allege that police observed human trafficking during the search or any time else. Also on Aug. 4, but at a different location, SFPD officers interviewed three women they suspected of being trafficked by Mr. He. Two denied being trafficked, while the third made statements suggesting that trafficking occurred (and) no charges have been filed.

“The government’s evidence of Mr. He’s involvement thus consisted of statements from an unspecified source and an unnamed woman. Notably, two other women whom the government suspected of being trafficked denied those allegations, and Mr. He has not been charged with any related offenses.

“(He) is a lawful permanent resident of the United States,” the defense elaborated. “As an adolescent in 2004, He immigrated with his family to the Bay Area from China and they have lived here ever since.

“Mr. He has no prior felony convictions of any kind and has no prior convictions for any offenses involving violence or weapons. He’s only prior criminal conviction is for misdemeanor simple possession of controlled substances, from 2013 when he was just 19 years old, for which He was sentenced to 60 days jail and two years of probation.”

Government prosecutors, on the other hand, characterize He as the man who pulled the strings:

“He appears to direct others to do criminal acts for him, going so far as to brag that he will not be caught because he deliberately stays removed, indicating that he is sophisticated about evading scrutiny and any conditions that may be placed on him.”