SAN FRANCISCO — The owner of a popular Fisherman’s Wharf restaurant has been sentenced to federal prison in a bribery scheme, but prosecutors are now accusing him of getting a lighter prison term through deceit.
On Nov. 20, Nick’s Lighthouse owner Min Ki Paik, also known as James Paik, 65, was sentenced to nine months in prison after pleading guilty to bribery and tax evasion, court records show. But now federal prosecutors have filed court papers asking him to be taken into custody immediately for allegedly lying to the court about the restaurant’s closure.
“Paik stood before this Court and said that he had had accepted responsibility for his crimes, he was remorseful, and that he had ‘learned a lesson I will never forget,’” according to a Dec. 16 prosecution motion. “Mr. Paik’s actions here demonstrate that none of that was true.”
Chief among Paik’s alleged lies were that his restaurant and sole source of income was closed, prosecutors said. But on Nov. 25, the FBI staked out the joint and saw Paik sweeping the floors of his still-open eatery, the motion says. Later, prosecutors learned Paik had an additional source of income in the form of a second restaurant, according to court records.
U.S. District Judge Rita Lin, who sentenced Paik, gave him until March to turn himself in, court records show. Prosecutors want that date bumped up to now, and are set to appear in court on Jan. 8 to argue it.
Paik and his wife, Hye Paik, 62, were charged in late 2023 with paying cash bribes on four separate occasions during their bid to acquire the vacant properties that once housed Pompei’s Grotto and Lou’s Fish Shack, two popular restaurants that announced they were closing that year.
“I fully understand the seriousness of my actions. This case forced me to reflect on my choices and take a honest look at myself and who I want to be for the rest of my life,” James Paik said in an apology letter to the court. “I live every day with regret and a strong desire to make things right. I am committed to taking responsibility and rebuilding the trust I have broken.”
His representation that he’d lost his restaurant and income was “one of the primary reasons” the federal probation office recommended a lower sentence from his guideline range of 18-24 months, prosecutors said in court filings.
Charges against Hye Parik are still pending. On Nov. 26, the day after the FBI stakeout of Nick’s Lighthouse, the SF Standard reported that the Port of San Francisco terminated the restaurant’s lease and it had been vacated.