HOUSTON, TX – A prior fugitive once featured on “America’s Most Wanted” back in 1990 is slated for deportation after spending over three decades in prison for a double murder from 1989 following an honored detainer out of Texas alerting Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) to the offender’s release date.
On April 16th, ICE Houston took Minh Duy Tong Nguyen, a.k.a. Tony Playboy, a Vietnamese immigrant whose residency was revoked following his conviction for a 1989 double homicide, into custody pending deportation after Nguyen spent over 36 years behind bars in Texas.
Nguyen had reportedly obtained his permanent resident status back in 1980, according to ICE, but apparently thrust himself into the Houston area gang scene with the Nomads sometime in the 1980s and likening himself to a leader of his own faction by 1988.
Shortly thereafter, a series of “turf wars” broke out culminating “in a shootout at Givral’s Sandwich Shop in Houston’s Little Saigon area,” that left two dead and three others injured.
A handful of suspects were apprehended following the January 1989 shooting, but Nguyen managed to evade capture and went on the lam, resulting in him being featured on a January 1990 episode of “America’s Most Wanted” which ostensibly aided in his eventual arrest in Toronto, Canada, in February of 1990.
Nguyen was eventually found guilty after being brought to trial in Harris County, Texas, and sentenced to 45 years in prison later that same year.
By 1998, eight years after Nguyen was sentenced to decades behind bars in Texas, the Board of Immigration Appeals finalized his removal order and sealed his fate insofar as his immigration standing post-release.
ICE Director Todd Lyons issued a statement following Nguyen’s apprehension amidst his release from prison, saying, “Nguyen came to the United States with lawful permanent resident status in 1980, but he threw away his green card - choosing a life of gang violence and murdering two people on U.S. soil.
On January 30, 1989, he was involved in a shootout at Givral’s Sandwich Shop in Houston’s Little Saigon area. The exchange of gunfire resulted in two deaths - three others were injured. While most of the other gang members were captured, Nguyen escaped.”
On April 16th, ICE Houston took Minh Duy Tong Nguyen, a.k.a. Tony Playboy, a Vietnamese immigrant whose residency was revoked following his conviction for a 1989 double homicide, into custody pending deportation after Nguyen spent over 36 years behind bars in Texas.
Nguyen had reportedly obtained his permanent resident status back in 1980, according to ICE, but apparently thrust himself into the Houston area gang scene with the Nomads sometime in the 1980s and likening himself to a leader of his own faction by 1988.
Shortly thereafter, a series of “turf wars” broke out culminating “in a shootout at Givral’s Sandwich Shop in Houston’s Little Saigon area,” that left two dead and three others injured.
A handful of suspects were apprehended following the January 1989 shooting, but Nguyen managed to evade capture and went on the lam, resulting in him being featured on a January 1990 episode of “America’s Most Wanted” which ostensibly aided in his eventual arrest in Toronto, Canada, in February of 1990.
Nguyen was eventually found guilty after being brought to trial in Harris County, Texas, and sentenced to 45 years in prison later that same year.
By 1998, eight years after Nguyen was sentenced to decades behind bars in Texas, the Board of Immigration Appeals finalized his removal order and sealed his fate insofar as his immigration standing post-release.
ICE Director Todd Lyons issued a statement following Nguyen’s apprehension amidst his release from prison, saying, “Nguyen came to the United States with lawful permanent resident status in 1980, but he threw away his green card - choosing a life of gang violence and murdering two people on U.S. soil.
On January 30, 1989, he was involved in a shootout at Givral’s Sandwich Shop in Houston’s Little Saigon area. The exchange of gunfire resulted in two deaths - three others were injured. While most of the other gang members were captured, Nguyen escaped.”
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