United States Drug Enforcement Administration

DALLAS - The lead defendant in the Han Gil criminal case pleaded guilty today to gun and drug charges, announced U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Texas Erin Nealy Cox.

Eric Dewayne Freeman, aka “Stuff,” pleaded guilty to conspiracy to possess with the intent to distribute a Schedule I controlled substance, possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime, and possession of a firearm by a felon.

Freeman, 44, is the seventh defendant to plead guilty in the Han Gil case, which has so far resulted in charges against 18 individuals and one corporation associated with the notoriously dangerous hotel.

“In his plea, Mr. Freeman admitted that the Han Gil was a haven for drug dealers and violent criminals like himself,” said U.S. Attorney Erin Nealy Cox. “But we knew that based upon the efforts of our investigative team. The Han Gil posed a significant danger to our community, and we’re gratified we succeeded in shutting it down completely.”

“The DEA will pursue investigations, much like the Han Gil Hotel case, until these places are extinct,” said DEA Special Agent in Charge of the Dallas Division Clyde E. Shelley, Jr.

In his plea papers, Freeman admits that he and dealers on his payroll routinely used so-called “trap rooms” within the Han Gil to distribute heroin, methamphetamine and crack cocaine to numerous customers. (Other drug dealers unaffiliated with Freeman used multiple other guest rooms within the hotel in a similar manner.) The users often smoked or injected the drugs inside the trap rooms, where drugs were peddled, or on hotel premises, which were within 1000 feet of Dallas’ Herbert Marcus Elementary School.

Freeman admitted that two overdose victims died inside rooms at the Han Gil, and their bodies were dumped elsewhere. DEA agents discovered the corpse of a young woman, who died on December 27, 2018, decomposing in the woods almost a month after Freeman and two others dragged her body out of the hotel, he conceded.

Freeman further admitted the owner of the Han Gil, codefendant Su Y. Amos Mun, was aware of the drug dealing, overdoses, and body dumping. He said Mun charged dealers an inflated room rate, dubbed a “drug tax,” in exchange for allowing them to deal out of trap rooms.  

Mun collected thousands of dollars from Freeman alone, and often tipped off dealers before law enforcement or city officials arrived for inspections, Freeman said in his plea papers. He also admitted that on at least one occasion, he discharged a handgun during an argument over some allegedly stolen drugs.

The hotel – which Mr. Freeman admitted was routinely mired in criminal activity, including drug dealing, unlawful possession of firearms, prostitution and other crimes – was raided on March 7 by a taskforce of more than 50 agents and officers concerned about rampant drug use and escalating criminal activity.

In addition to charging Freeman, Mun, and more than a dozen other conspirators using the hotel, the government moved for a restraining order to shut down the Han Gil, which the Court agreed “endangers the general welfare of the community.”

Freeman now faces a sentence of 10 years to life in federal prison.

Mun, meanwhile, has entered a plea of not guilty. The Indictment against Mun is a formal accusation of criminal conduct, not evidence; like all other defendants, he is innocent until proven guilty. Mun has moved to postpone his trial, which is currently set for July 29.

The Drug Enforcement Administration conducted the investigation with assistance from the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Coppell Police Department, Dallas Police Department, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms & Explosives, the U.S. Marshal’s Service, Grand Prairie Police Department, Arlington Police Department, Grapevine Police Department, Lancaster Police Department, the State Department, IRS, U.S. Postal Inspection Service, Plano Police Department, Farmers Branch Police Department, Homeland Security Investigations, Garland Police Department, Rowlett Police Department, Denton Police Department, Lewisville Police Department and McKinney Police Department. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Rick Calvert, Chief of NDTX’s Narcotics Section, and Phelesa Guy, Deputy Chief of the Narcotics Section, are prosecuting the criminal case.  Assistant U.S. Attorney Lindsey Beran, NDTX Deputy Civil Chief, is handling the civil case.