Racketeering sentence added to man who pleaded guilty for 2022 Everett murder

Published 5:25 pm Tuesday, June 30, 2026

EVERETT — A U.S. District Court judge sentenced a member of the armed robbery crew connected to the death of Irah Sok to 25 years in prison Tuesday for racketeering and conspiracy to commit Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (RICO).

This came after a Snohomish County Superior Court judge sentenced the 24-year-old in March to 25 years in prison for the fatal shooting of the Everett mother. Christopher Johnson had pleaded guilty in superior court as part of a plea agreement in the U.S. District Court. Both sides recommended a 25-year sentence to run concurrently with the federal sentence.

According to the plea agreement, Johnson admitted he was part of the robbery crew responsible for a series of crimes across western Washington that included co-defendant Kevin Thissel, 29, and other co-conspirators. During the summer of 2022, the group targeted families for home invasion robberies.

The Daily Herald previously reported that Johnson and Thissel would target Asian American families.

The crew would reportedly create a climate of fear by bursting into homes in the middle of the night, dressed in black, wearing masks and claiming to be police with guns drawn. They used zip ties to restrain victims, including children as young as 9, and steal any valuables they could get from the home.

One of these robberies resulted in the death of the 36-year-old Everett woman.

Around 3 a.m. Aug. 19, 2022, three armed suspects kicked in the front door of Sok’s home in the 2600 block of 96th Street SE. They went into the bedroom where Sok and her husband were sleeping. One shot her as her child, 7, was next to her. The suspects zip-tied her husband on the floor. The suspects ransacked the house, stole thousands of dollars’ worth of belongings and fled.

Sok’s husband ran to the house of a neighbor, who called 911.

Alongwith the August 2022 incident, Johnson admitted to various other crimes in his plea agreement:

• May 24, 2022, the armed robbery of a family in Mount Vernon and the kidnapping of a young boy.

• May 24, 2022, an attempted robbery on Mercer Island, where one robber fired a gun but missed one of three victims inside the house.

• May 27, 2022, the burglary of an unoccupied residence in Kent.

• June 19, 2022, the attempted burglary of an occupied residence in Kent. One resident fired at the robbery crew, resulting in them fleeing.

• July 14, 2022, the armed robbery of a couple in Burien.

• July 28, 2022, the armed robbery and abduction of a woman in Kent to force her to obtain cash from ATMs.

• August 12, 2022, the robbery of two Kent residents who were locked in a closet during the ransack.

At the sentencing hearing Tuesday, U.S. District Judge Lauren King said, “You used violence, fear, and intimidation… The victims face unthinkable trauma due to you and your coconspirators insatiable greed,” according to a press release.

While not all the criminal acts described in the plea agreement were formally charged, King considered those acts when determining the sentence, the release said. King also agreed to Johnson’s request and recommended that he serve his sentence in the Washington prison system.

A restitution hearing is set for Sept. 22, the release said. Following Johnson’s prison term, he will undergo five years of supervised release.

The case was investigated by the FBI with assistance from the Snohomish County Sheriff’s Office, the Mount Vernon Police Department, the Kent Police Department and the King County Sheriff’s Office.

Jenna Millikan: 425-339-3035; jenna.millikan@heraldnet.com. X: @JennaMillikan