I. PRELIMINARY STATEMENT

Patrick Ho is a remarkable man. He has led a life filled with extraordinary accomplishments and enduring work to better the lives of those around him. The many chapters of his life are united by a common theme: Patrick has consistently sought to build bridges among people. He has approached his work and life with a spirit of service, whether it be through treating patients in rural China, teaching scores of young doctors, serving the people of Hong Kong as a public administrator, hosting conferences on energy security, overseeing a grant program through the United Nations to support worthy development projects, or building appreciation for beautiful music. The crimes of which he has been convicted are a small and uncharacteristic part of his long and successful life.

In light of Patrick’s exceptional history of service and charity, his age and family circumstances, and his contributions to the Metropolitan Correctional Center (the “MCC”) community during his incarceration, we respectfully ask the Court to impose a sentence of time served. By the time he is sentenced, Patrick will have spent more than 16 months in custody, half a world away from home. During these months, the lives of Patrick and his family have been upended. An additional term of incarceration is unnecessary for deterrence purposes, and a sentence of time served appropriately balances the offense conduct against Patrick’s exemplary character and personal history.

II. PATRICK’S LIFE AND BACKGROUND

A. Early Years

Patrick grew up during a different era. He was born in Hong Kong in 1949, just as the Chinese Civil War was coming to a close. He was raised in a middle-class family that, while not wealthy, was loving. His father, Thomas, was a civil engineer who worked in construction for many years before moving into a middle-management position at an electronics company, where he stayed until his retirement. Patrick’s mother, Chan Ha, was a schoolteacher who taught English at a Catholic girls’ school. Patrick has one brother, Joseph, who is two years his junior. Patrick’s father passed away in 2017, but Patrick is a devoted son to his mother, now 92 years old, and he remains close with his brother.

From a young age, Patrick distinguished himself as a bright and hardworking student. After completing elementary school, Patrick took a standardized test used to place students in secondary school. His score was sufficiently high to secure his admission to the prestigious Diocesan Boys’ School in Hong Kong, which was administered by the Anglican Diocese of Hong Kong. He was an excellent student, and “throughout [his] years in school,” he stood out as being “gentle in character and helpful to others.” Ex. 22, Bowen Leung Letter.

Music was an important part of Patrick’s life, as was his Christian faith. He was a talented classical violinist, and he played in folk bands with his classmates. See Ex. 83, Shelley Lee Letter; Ex. 21, Peter C. Kwok Letter. Shelley Lee, one of Patrick’s childhood bandmates, recalls him as a “dignified musician. . . [and] a team player,” whom she appreciated for his “deep Christian faith [and] generosity of spirit.” Ex. 83, Shelley Lee Letter.

While Patrick was at Diocesan, the headmaster bought him a violin that “match[ed] up with this talent,” because his family could not afford one. Ex. 16, Fung Yee Wang Letter. Patrick responded to this generosity in what would prove to be characteristic fashion: he worked hard to cultivate his talents and paid the generosity forward. During high school, Patrick won several prizes as a violinist and worked as a violin teacher, using his earnings to pay for cello lessons for his brother, Joseph. See id.; Ex. 4, Joseph Ho Letter.

Attending the Diocesan Boys’ School was formative for Patrick, and he credits his time there as having instilled in him a love of learning and a deep concern for ethics and community. In his later years, Patrick expressed his gratitude by financially supporting his alma mater and providing assistance to needy students. Ex. 94, Lister T.S. Chang Letter; Ex. 28, Sung Tai Wai Letter. Today, the school has a driveway named in his honor. Ex. 94, Lister T.S. Chang Letter.

B. College, Medical School, and Post-Medical School Training

Upon his graduation from high school, Patrick had planned to attend a university in Hong Kong. However, those plans changed one day when the dean of the music school at Stetson University, who happened to be visiting Hong Kong, heard Patrick playing violin during a concert. The dean was so impressed that he approached Patrick and offered him a scholarship to attend the university. This serendipitous encounter opened a world of opportunities that otherwise would not have been available to Patrick, in light of his family’s modest finances. Patrick embraced the opportunity, and in 1968, he left the world he knew and boarded a ship bound for the United States in order to attend Stetson in Florida.

Patrick loved Stetson and recalls his years there as some of the best of his life. As he has done in every chapter of his life, Patrick defied easy characterization. He majored in chemistry, but his wide-ranging interests led him to other pursuits as well. Patrick took classes in history, philosophy, and the sciences, and he played in the Stetson orchestra for ten hours a week, eventually becoming concertmaster.

Lacking the funds to travel home, he worked during his summer breaks to earn money to pay for his room and board. He spent his first summer cleaning rooms at a country club outside of Chicago. Patrick’s faith remained an important part of his life, and for a time, Patrick considered becoming a theologian. But Patrick also had a mind for science, and after reflection and consultation with his family, he decided to pursue medicine. In 1972, Patrick graduated from Stetson magna cum laude with a B.S. degree.

Patrick attended medical school at Vanderbilt University in Nashville, Tennessee. As he had at Stetson, Patrick received a generous scholarship, but it did not cover all of his expenses. To make up the difference, Patrick worked as a session musician on the Nashville music scene. Dr. Walter King, Patrick’s medical school roommate and former colleague, remembers Patrick during his medical school years and fellowship as “a kind hearted, hard working, extremely skillful, [and] intelligent . . . aspiring young ophthalmologist who [was] always law abiding and who [held] American values and cultures in high regard.” Ex. 40, Dr. Walter W.K. King Letter.

When it came time to settle on a medical specialty, Patrick chose eye surgery. Because his years of playing the violin had made him skillful with his hands, he reasoned that he was well-suited for the delicate movements that eye surgery required. That instinct proved to be right, to the eventual benefit of patients and physicians around the world.

Patrick’s promise as a physician was recognized early, and he was trained at some of the best hospitals in America. After receiving his medical degree from Vanderbilt in 1976, Patrick completed a one-year internship at UCLA-Harbor General Hospital in Los Angeles. He then returned to Vanderbilt in 1977 for a three-year ophthalmological residency, eventually becoming chief resident in 1979. According to Dr. Lily Chen, a friend and colleague of Patrick’s, Patrick had “a great reputation in his department, [and was] always willing to help his fellow residents.” Ex. 11, Dr. Lily Chen Letter. Patrick also made a point of sharing his musical gifts during his residency. He would play the violin for his friends at social gatherings, and he helped Dr. Chen’s son learn the “the finer techniques” of the instrument. Id.

After completing his residency in 1980, Patrick began a clinical fellowship at the Eye Research Institute and Massachusetts Eye and Ear Infirmary (the “ERI/MEEI”), an affiliate of Harvard Medical School. At the ERI/MEEI, he was mentored by Charles L. Schepens, a pioneer in the field of retinal surgery. Patrick stayed at the ERI/MEEI for three years, treating patients, performing retinal surgeries, and conducting research on diabetic eye disease. By 1983, when he completed his fellowship, Patrick was a Fellow of the American Academy of Ophthalmology; he was certified by the American Board of Ophthalmology; and he was licensed to practice medicine in Tennessee, Massachusetts, and California.

C. Medical Practice in Hong Kong

Patrick was well on his way to a prestigious—and lucrative—medical career in the United States. Around this time, many young professionals were leaving Hong Kong to pursue careers in the United States, where economic prospects were better. But Patrick had the opposite desire. He wanted to use what he had learned in the United States to improve the medical field back home, which at the time was decades behind the United States. Thus, after his fellowship, Patrick made the momentous decision to return to Hong Kong to practice medicine and train a new generation of ophthalmologists. As the letters submitted by Patrick’s patients, students, and colleagues attest, that decision yielded a staggering legacy.

In 1983, Patrick accepted an offer to join the faculty of the Chinese University of Hong Kong (“CUHK”), a public university that was opening what would become only the second medical school in Hong Kong. While CUHK was building its teaching hospital, Patrick spent a year as a clinical assistant professor at the University of California, San Francisco and as a consultant in the Kaiser Permanente Medical System, and then returned to Hong Kong in 1984.

Once Patrick arrived at CUHK, he set to work developing the school’s Eye Teaching Unit and designing its teaching program. Patrick was the first full-time academic ophthalmologist in Hong Kong, and by 1988, he had become a full professor. In the words of Dr. Clement Tham, Patrick’s successor at CUHK: “[Patrick] single-handedly established academic ophthalmology in Hong Kong, and also placed [CUHK] and [its] work firmly on the world map.” Ex. 54, Dr. Clement Chee-Yung Tham Letter. For ten years, Patrick treated patients, performed surgeries, ran clinics, gave lectures, and trained students. Between 1985 and 1987, he served as Honorary Secretary General for the Hong Kong Medical Association, and between 1988 and 1991, he served three terms as President of the Hong Kong Ophthalmological Society.

It is no exaggeration to say that Patrick’s teaching revolutionized the practice of ophthalmology in Hong Kong and mainland China. When Patrick joined CUHK, “[t]he standard of ophthalmic care in Hong Kong and China . . . was at least 50 years behind that in the [United] States.” Ex. 43, Prof. Jimmy Lai Letter. Patrick made it his mission to correct that.

At CUHK, Patrick established the region’s first subspecialty training in vitreoretinal disease and surgery, and he taught the most advanced medical techniques to young doctors. In addition to teaching doctors from Hong Kong, Patrick launched and personally funded a post-graduate clinical fellowship program at CUHK for doctors from mainland China and other countries in Asia. As Dr. Clement Chan, one of Patrick’s former colleagues, writes: “[Patrick] had no reservation in passing his skills and knowledge to [foreign doctors] who very soon became experts in the area and able to serve patients in their countries.” Ex. 32, Dr. Clement W.N. Chan Letter. Patrick’s fellows returned home to share their new knowledge with local doctors and medical students, leading to a broad regional modernization of the practice.

Shortly after joining CUHK, Patrick dedicated himself to bringing vitrectomy,1 which was at the time an innovative and potentially life-changing eye surgical technique, to other doctors in China. As one ophthalmologist who met Patrick during this period explains, vitreoretinal surgery in mainland China “was still in its infancy” around this time, and “[i]t was amazing to see those blind people whom we used to believe hopeless have their vision miraculously restored under [Patrick’s] treatment.” Ex. 57, Dr. Wang Zhijun Letter. As another colleague from China writes: “no ophthalmologist [in mainland China] had ever personally seen a vitrectomy operation” before Patrick’s demonstrations; they had only read about it in journals. Ex. 50, Dr. Zhizhong Ma Letter. Patrick taught the technique to ophthalmologists around the country, establishing himself as “the pioneer of vitrectomy . . . in mainland China.” Id. Around this time, Patrick became an honorary or visiting professor or consultant at more than a dozen universities, eye institutes, and hospitals in mainland China.

Patrick has been recognized on numerous occasions for what his peers describe as his “enormous” “contribution . . . in the development of ophthalmology in Hong Kong, China, Asia and beyond.” Ex. 44, Dr. Timothy Lai Letter. For example, in 2014, Patrick received the first-ever Lifetime Achievement Award from the Chinese Ophthalmological Society. In 2018, he received the Outstanding Contribution Award from the Chinese Ocular Fundus Diseases Society.

But Patrick was not simply a pioneer in his field. He was also a devoted and inspiring teacher to the young physicians he mentored. He cared deeply about mentorship and cultivating the next generation of doctors. As he once explained to one of his colleagues: I love taking care of my patients[,] but I only have 24 hours a day[.] [N]o matter how hard I work, I can only treat a finite number of patients. Identifying, grooming and helping young talents to become somebody, who would shoulder major responsibility in [the] future is very meaningful and my priority.

Ex. 46, Dr. Dennis S.C. Lam Letter. His efforts yielded enormous fruit, and he successfully inspired many young medical students to pursue careers in ophthalmology. See, e.g., Ex. 47, Dr. Vincent Y.W. Lee Letter. In a remarkable testament to Patrick’s efforts, many of his former students have written letters to the Court attesting to the profound impact he had on their careers. See, e.g., id.; Ex. 38, Dr. Ho Sze Yuen Letter; Ex. 41, Dr. Kwok Sek Keung Letter; Ex. 48, Dr. Peng Iok Lo Letter; Ex. 56, Dr. Tsui Chung-Wan Letter.

Patrick built a legacy of excellence in his profession, but perhaps just as importantly, he imparted to his students the importance of giving back to the community. His former students and colleagues remember him as being “very concerned about ordinary citizens’ eye health” and as “a dedicated Christian” with a “heart for the needy.” Ex. 48, Dr. Peng Iok Lo Letter; Ex. 46, Dr. Dennis S.C. Lam Letter. Throughout his career, Patrick regularly participated in free public eye screenings, and he encouraged his students to do the same. As one former student, Dr. Kwok Sek Keung, recalls: During weekends or long holidays, we [Patrick and his students] would deliver care to indigenous people living in the most remote areas. We set foot in temples and prisons[,] school[s] for the blinded and hospitals for terminally ill patients. When [Patrick] was not in Hong Kong, it was never about vacation. He [would] be teaching somewhere in Asia or providing eye care in rural China.

Ex. 41, Dr. Kwok Sek Keung Letter. Patrick’s career was built around service, and his charitable work inspired his students and colleagues to “volunteer regularly and aspire to [Patrick’s] spirit of community contribution.” Ex. 38, Dr. Ho Sze Yuen Letter. From the development of eye banks to raising money for his hospital’s cancer center, Ex. 46, Dr. Dennis S.C. Lam Letter; Ex. 83, Shelley Lee Letter, Patrick took every opportunity to improve the health of his community.

Patrick eventually expanded his efforts to improve eye care in the region by working with the Hong Kong Lions Club to organize “sight saving” missions to underserved areas of China. In the late 1980s, Lions Clubs International had launched a program called “SightFirst” that funded efforts all over the world to fight blindness and provide services to the blind and visually impaired. In the 1990s, the Hong Kong Lions Club brought SightFirst to mainland China, where there was a tremendous need for such services. Patrick helped the Club launch SightFirst China Action (“SFCA”) and served as the project’s technical adviser. According to Dr. Wing-Kun Tam, the former President of Lions Clubs International and the Project Chairman of SFCA: [Patrick] joined [the SFCA] medical team on numerous occasions to provide trainings for local eye doctors and conduct cataract operations. His enthusiasm and commitment were most vividly shown during the field missions. It often took extensive hours to reach the remote regions of China . . . [y]et it did not stop him from leading and supporting the missions. He was even willing to extend the surgery sessions until late evenings so more patients could be treated.

Ex. 78, Dr. Wing-Kun Tam Letter. Over the life of the project, SFCA “provided over 5.2 million cataract surgeries, trained 60,000 ophthalmologists and set up more than 210 county-level eye clinics.” Id. In support of SFCA, Patrick personally traveled to 33 provinces in China. See Ex. 76, Ho Yu Tin Letter; Ex. 77, Eddie Lam Sui Loong Letter.

In 1994—after a decade in academia—Patrick left CUHK and opened a private medical practice. The same year, he founded the Hong Kong Eye Foundation, a charitable organization that held public education events, organized public eye screenings (for children and the handicapped, among others), and assisted patients who could not afford to pay for treatment.

Even while operating his successful medical practice, Patrick continued to treat patients who could not afford his services. According to Patrick’s mother: Once there was a blind monk who went to [Patrick’s] clinic in Hong Kong and told him how much he admired [Patrick’s] advanced medical skills and sought his medical advice in particular, but he said he was poor and could not afford the medical bills. Patrick simply treated and cured his eye disease for free, enabling the monk to see again.

Ex. 3, Ho Cheung Chan Ha Letter. Patrick’s wife recalls a similar story: [Patrick] received an elderly woman about 70 years old in his clinic . . . and she asked [Patrick] to perform an eye surgery on her eyes. She already had the money ready, which was about HKD 50,000. [Patrick] saw her humble dress which was a bit worn, noted the home address that this elderly woman provided, and figured out that she was living on Comprehensive Social Security Assistance (a measure provided by the Hong Kong government for those living in poverty). [Patrick] instantly decided not to charge her, but still performed the surgery for her. This elderly woman could not believe that there was such a kind doctor in the world. 

Ex. 1, Sabrina Hui Chung Hu Letter.