The former owner of the Asian Palace Restaurant in Spirit Lake will spend the rest of his life in a Louisiana prison after being convicted of sex crimes in Louisiana.
Authorities say Choi Van Leo owned an Asian American restaurant in a suburb of Lake Charles, Louisiana, when he fled that state 25 years ago after learning he’d be arrested. Last year, a source told a Louisiana prosecutor Leo was likely living in Iowa and Leo was arrested in Spirit Lake in May of 2024.
Louisiana authorities accused Leo of sexually abusing seven children between the ages of four and 12 over an eight year period. A jury convicted him last month. He’s been sentenced to life in a Louisiana prison without the possibility of parole.
On Wednesday, September 24, 2025, Judge Bobby Holmes sentenced Choi Van Leo, 60, of Spirit Lake, Iowa, to three life terms without the possibility of parole, probation, or suspension of sentence on three counts of Aggravated Rape, and 15 years in prison at hard labor on four counts of Molestation of a Juvenile. Each sentence is to run consecutively.
According to court records, between 1992 and August 28, 2000, Leo raped and molested seven children ranging in age from 4 to 12 years old.
An arrest warrant was first issued for Leo on September 15, 2000, on charges of aggravated rape, aggravated oral sexual battery, and aggravated sexual battery. Before authorities could take him into custody, Leo learned of the warrant and fled the state, evading capture for nearly 24 years.
He was finally arrested on May 24, 2024, in Spirit Lake, Iowa, after the Calcasieu Parish District Attorney’s Office received a tip about his location.
The case was prosecuted by Chief of Litigation Charles Robinson and Deputy Chief of Litigation Taylor Alexander with the Calcasieu Parish District Attorney’s Office.
