A 43-year-old lottery winner from Langley has pleaded guilty to mounting a reign of terror against staff and students at the Justice Institute of B.C.
Vincent Eric Gia-Hwa Cheung pleaded guilty Thursday to 18 of 23 counts.
Between April 2011 and January 2012, 15 people were targeted in a series of attacks, which occurred in multiple jurisdictions, including Surrey, Richmond and West Vancouver.
Their homes, vehicles, and property were the subject of shootings and arsons.
Cheung told the court his actions were the result of substance abuse and paranoia, saying he had "just gone nuts."
A roommate had told police that they were consuming as much as $30,000 a month in heroin.
The Crown wanted a 15 year jail sentence, saying Cheung's drug problem didn't excuse his actions, while the defence argued for 10 years.
Cheung was arrested after a complicated four-year investigation.
At the time, a rural property on 267 Street in Aldergrove was raided.
The investigation established that an ICBC employee had queried the 15 victims’ licence plates which provided their personal details, including home addresses.
In January 2012, three suspects connected to an arson in Surrey were identified.
Interviews with those suspects enabled police to identify the person who hired them, and the name of the alleged orchestrator of all the targeted attacks against Justice Institute employees and students.
Apart from speeding tickets, Cheung didn’t appear to have a criminal background.
In 2003, he won the $2.6 million B.C. Cancer Foundation Lifestyles prize home.
He is scheduled to be sentenced Wednesday.
- with files from CTV News and Black Press