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Fearing for his family's safety, University of Hawai'i at Manoa student Christopher Yeung recently removed the Internet postings he used to expose the identities of undercover agents who investigated his father's medical practice. Yeung, whose father Kachun Yeung was charged with illegally distributing narcotic prescription drugs and Medicaid fraud earlier this year, went on the national Web site WhosaRat.com to reveal agents from the U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency (DEA) and Honolulu Police Department (HPD) who posed as patients during a 2002 investigation. He said that his goal was "to show other doctors that they may become victims of a sting, too." Because the undercover investigation ended in 2002, and the information was already revealed in court, 24-year-old Yeung did not violate any federal or state laws, according to Assistant U.S. Attorney Jonathan Loo. But Yeung said that since posting the information, he received several threats from federal agents. "I don't believe what I did was wrong," he said, "and accept responsibilities for my actions. I just don't want anything to happen to me or my family." Yeung admitted to using the Web site during an August court hearing after the team of federal attorneys brought up the issue. According to Loo, the team found out about the posting from a DEA agent. "I knew the attorneys and DEA check the site," Yeung said. "But I don't regret what I did." He posted profiles of three federal agents and a photo of one of them earlier this year. On the Web site, Yeung described one as "a known liar and a dirty agent. He is an absolute disgrace to the American justice system." "It was not like a typical hand-to-hand drug transaction," Yeung said. "My dad treated them [the undercover agents] as if he would treat anyone in pain. Now it looks like he's a drug dealer." If the case had still been under investigation, or the undercover agents were working on other cases, Yeung could have faced up to 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine, according to federal obstruction of justice laws. Yeung, who plans to major in law, currently serves as a paralegal on his father's defense team, for which he helps prepare case files and sits in during hearings. The next trial is scheduled for March. He would not comment on how he found out about the WhosaRat Web, site nor would he say if his father was aware of his actions before he admitted to them in court. "The site doesn't play into the decision-making process," Loo said. "We [the U.S. district attorneys] also have not been talking about changing our practice of turning over materials from undercover investigations, since attorneys are required by the U.S. Constitution to do it anyway." For undercover agents, the threat of being exposed puts added stress on them, said Pam Fitzgerald, who researched officers of the HPD Narcotic Vice Division from 1998 to 2002. Fitzgerald received master's degrees in Counseling Psychology and Criminal Justice Administration from Chaminade University and developed a survey measuring stress among officers. "There is definitely that fear of their covers being blown," she said. "Oftentimes, they experience anxiety." Fitzgerald said that agents might even have psychological problems as a result of their undercover work. HPD has no preventative measures for these long-term mental effects and lacks support for them, she said. The WhosaRat Web site claims to identify more than 4,000 informants and undercover agents since first starting in 2004 as a resource for defense attorneys and prosecutors, according to a Nov. 30 USA Today article. Users can submit biographical information about witnesses or undercover agents and court documents. However, as of Thursday, users must pay for site access and can no longer upload photos of undercover agents, which may be harmful to officers. An Alabama judge ruled two years ago that a similar Web site, carmichaelcase.com, should not be shut down because it did not pose any kind of threat to those identified, according to The National Law Library. Kachun Yeung, 53, was charged in March with 30 counts of distributing painkiller Oxycodone, also known by its trade name OxyContin, "outside the course of professional medical practice and not for a legitimate medical purpose" and 19 counts of fraudulently billing Medicare for more than $2,000 in services rendered. He also had to surrender his DEA certificate permitting him to prescribe controlled drugs, and although he appealed the order to the 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals three months ago, his request was denied. Yueng continues to practice medicine at his Vineyard Boulevard office. According to a September 2006 court document submitted by Yeung's attorneys to the Court of Appeals, the order upholds "unduly restrictive bail conditions that are factually unsupported and that unlawfully abridge [his] ability to make a living as a physician." The grand jury also charged Wai'alae doctor Barry N. Odegaard, 53, that same month in a separate case with 10 counts of distributing Oxycodone and submitting false billings to Medicaid. Both plead not guilty to the federal charges and could face up to 20 years in prison for illegally prescribing narcotic drugs and up to 10 years for Medicaid fraud. |
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