Man gets 22 years after 4th felony conviction

A 37-year-old Bronx man has been sentenced to 22 years to life in prison for the brutal beating of another man in a Flushing bar last May. It was the defendant’s fourth felony conviction.
“The defendant in this case was well aware that he could face life in prison if convicted of another violent felony,” said District Attorney Richard A. Brown. “He showed no mercy to his victim and now he will be punished for a vicious and senseless attack. Justice has been served.”
Vinh Dinh, 37, of 42 West Fordham Road, the Bronx, was convicted of first-degree gang assault last month after a jury trial before Queens Supreme Court Justice Joel Blumenfeld.
Following an extortion conviction in Federal Court in New Jersey, Dinh was warned that he would face life in prison if he was convicted of another felony, according to court records. He also has two prior convictions in Manhattan.
According to court testimony, the defendant, and another individual, Hendra Setiawan, 38, of 709 Seneca Avenue in Flushing, were in the Coco Bar, at 131-37A 41st Avenue, in Flushing, in the early morning hours of May 27, 2007, when they, and an unidentified individual, viciously attacked another bar patron. The 30-year-old victim was punched several times and fell to the floor, according to video from a surveillance camera.
While the victim lay unconscious, Dinh grabbed a bar stool and used it to hit him in the head. The victim suffered a depressed skull, a fractured eye socket, bruises about his body, and had to have three staples to his forehead. The victim continues to suffer blurry vision.
Setiawan pleaded guilty to second-degree assault on July 2, 2007, and was sentenced to time served and five years’ probation.