SAN LEANDRO, Calif. - An East Bay man has been sentenced to prison after an Asian woman was robbed "because Asians are easy targets who don't fight back," according to federal prosecutors.
Freddie Lee Davis III, 27, pleaded guilty to wire fraud and aggravated identity theft and was sentenced to two years in federal prison on Thursday. His co-defendant, Sene Malepeai, 27, pleaded guilty to the same charges and has yet to be sentenced, the U.S. Attorney's Office for Northern California said Friday.
In a plea agreement, Malepeai said she and three others discussed "going to Chinatown to rob Asian women with purses or jewelry" on June 17, 2021, and ended up at a Costco in San Leandro, prosecutors said.
Two members of the group said they "preferred robbing Asians because they thought they have more money, and because Asians are easy targets who don't fight back," prosecutors said, citing Malepeai's plea agreement.
The robbery took place in the Costco parking lot as the victim left the store and was walking to her vehicle. A black Honda drove alongside, and a person reached out and grabbed her purse from the moving car, prosecutors said.
The woman held onto her purse and was dragged the width of several cars. As the car sped away, the woman fell to the ground and was injured. Surveillance cameras revealed that the car had a license plate registered to Davis, prosecutors said.
After the robbery, the occupants of the vehicle divided up the stolen goods including cash, credit cards, a checkbook, and two cell phones, prosecutors said Malepeai admitted.
Davis pleaded guilty Aug. 1 to getting the woman's stolen MasterCard credit card. He and Malepeai used it to buy merchandise at a shoe store in San Leandro and make other fraudulent purchases, prosecutors said.
In addition to being sentenced to prison, Davis was ordered to pay restitution in an amount to be determined and to serve three years of supervised release after leaving prison, prosecutors said.