(CourtTV) — A 23-year-old woman is charged with conspiracy to commit murder in a scheme to kill her identical twin sister and assume her identity. Prosecutors say Jeen ("Jeena")Young Han recruited two teenage boys in November 1996 to kill her sister, Sunny, so that she could take Sunny's identity and bury her own checkered past. (At the time of the alleged murder plot, there was a warrant out for Jeena's arrest because she had failed to return to jail. Jeena had been serving a 180-day sentence for burglary, grand theft and forgery. She served this sentence at night and on weekends. Several days before the incident with Sunny, Jeena left jail on a five-hour pass and never returned.)

Sunny and Jeena Han reportedly had a bitter sibling rivalry. During a separate incident in May 1996, the sisters had a fist-fight in Sunny's apartment in which Sunny punched Jeena in the nose. Jeena ran out of the house, her face covered in blood, and neighbors called the police. Sunny was arrested, and during her imprisonment, Jeena took her car and drove from their home in Irvine to San Diego. Jeena refused to give the car back when Sunny was released from prison. Therefore, Sunny reported that her vehicle had been stolen, and police subsequently recovered her car from Jeena. Reportedly the relationship between the Han sisters became even more strained.

Jeena Han says that there was no plot to kill her sister. She claims that she went to Sunny's house to recover her checkbook, ATM card, and photo identification card. Jeena said that she offered to pay two teen-agers, John "Yoshi" Sayarath and Archie Bryant, $100 each to help her pick up her belongings from Sunny because she did not feel comfortable facing her sister alone. (She also claimed she had tried to contact Sunny, but that her sister had been avoiding her.) Jeena claimed that she had no idea that Bryant and Sayarath had a gun and that they had planned to rob her sister. Jeena also claimed that, unbeknownst to her, Sayareth and Bryant on their own planned to pull a prank on her sister.

Sayarath and Bryant claim that the gun belonged to Jeena. They also claim that Jeena planned the alleged practical joke on Sunny, not them. According to the two teen-agers, Jeena told them that she wanted them to pretend to rob Sunny. Jeena allegedly instructed Sayareth and Bryant to tie Sunny up with rope and duct tape and take Sunny's wallet and passport. Both teens also admit that Jeena entertained the idea of killing Sunny, but they did not know whether she was serious about it.

Han, Sayarath, and Bryant have each been charged with conspiracy to commit murder,burglary and false imprisonment. If convicted, they each could face between 40 years to life in prison.

A Murder Conspiracy...or a Botched Prank?

According to prosecutors, on November 6, 1996, Jeena Han, Sayarath and Bryant stopped by a grocery store on their way to Sunny's apartment in Irvine, Calif. They bought two pairs of gloves, twine, duct tape and magazines. (Investigators found the receipt for the items upon the defendants' arrest. Jeen reportedly told investigators that she had bought the magazines for Sayarath but that the two teens bought the other items for their prank on Sunny. Jeena claimed that she did not know what kind of prank Sayarath and Bryant were going to play on her sister.)

The trio drove in a rental car to Sunny's apartment building about midday. Sayarath took the magazines the trio had purchased, went to Sunny's door alone and pretended to be a magazine salesman. One of Sunny's roommates, Angie Woo, answered the door and turned Sayarath away. Sunny and her second roommate, Helen Kim, were not home at that time. An hour later, Sayarath approached Sunny's apartment again, and Woo turned him away a second time. (Sunny and Kim were home during this second encounter with Sayarath.)

Around 3:15 p.m. or 3:20 p.m., Sayarath, Bryant, and Jeena returned to Sunny's apartment building. Both Sayarath and Bryant approached Sunny's apartment while Jeena remained in the car outside the building. Bryant posed as the magazine salesman this time. When Kim answered the door and refused Bryant's business, Bryant and Sayarath forced their way inside the apartment. (Angie Woo, the roommate who had answered the door on the two previous occasions, was not home at that time.) Bryant held a gun to Kim's head, and she screamed. Kim was then tied up, and her mouth was bound with duct tape.

During the commotion, Sunny Han was putting on makeup in the bathroom. When she heard her roommate scream, Sunny grabbed her cellular phone from her bedroom nearby and locked herself in the bathroom. She called the police, thinking that Kim was being raped. Then, Bryant forced his way into the bathroom and pointed the gun at Sunny. When Bryant asked Sunny whether she had called the police, she turned off the phone and told him that she had been calling a friend. Bryant forced Sunny into the bedroom, covered her mouth with duct tape, and bound her hands behind her back.

The Prank (or Conspiracy) Unravels

Bryant and Sayarath then led Sunny and Kim to the bathroom and placed them in the tub. According to Kim and Sunny, they heard Bryant and Sayarath rummaging through Sunny's room. Then Bryant apparently sent Sayarath back downstairs to get Jeena Han, who was still waiting inside the car. Allegedly, Jeena was going to come up to Sunny's apartment to talk to her. Suddenly, Kim and Sunny heard Bryant curse. Police sirens could be heard in the distance. The police were responding to Sunny's 911 call. From outside the apartment, Sayarath told Bryant the police were coming. Bryant immediately untied Kim and Sunny and told them to tell police that the whole incident was a joke.

When police arrived, Sayarath and Jeena were still in front of the building. According to investigators, Jeena told police that she had lived for a time in Sunny's apartment and that about 10 minutes earlier, there had been a fight in the apartment. Jeena and Sayarath then quickly left the scene (and abandoned Bryant) without any interference from the police.

After Jeena and Sayarath fled, Kim and Sunny met the police outside and told them what had happened. When Bryant came out of the apartment shortly afterwards, he was ordered to lie face down on the ground and was arrested by police. Bryant told the police about the alleged involvement of Jeena Han and Sayarath in the incident with Sunny Han. Meanwhile, Sunny told police about her recent problems with her twin sibling. Police also learned from Sunny and Bryant that Jeena had a warrant out for her arrest in San Diego.

Jeena and Sayarath drove to San Diego and attempted to lease a car using Sunny's credit card, first at a local car leasing company, then at the Alamo car rental agency at San Diego Airport. The local car leasing salesman told Jeena to return another day because he needed to check her credit history. When Jeena and Sayarath went to Alamo car rental at San Diego Airport, but the police were there to arrest them.

Who's to Blame?

Jeena Han and her two co-defendants have blamed each other for the incident with Sunny Han. Jeena claims that there was no plot to kill her sister and that she did not know that Bryant and Sayarath had a gun and planned to rob her sister. Bryant and Sayarath claim that Jeena was the real mastermind of an alleged conspiracy to kill her sister from the beginning.

In a surprise development this past January, Sunny Han visited Jeena in jail. After the visit, Sunny reportedly said that she was convinced that Jeena was innocent and was the victim of a scam by Bryant and Sayarath. However, since then, prosecutors have convinced Sunny that evidence shows that Jeena conspired to kill her and have proceeded with the case. Sunny Han is expected to testify for the prosecution during trial, but it remains unclear what she will actually say about her twin sister.

The Verdict and Sentencing

On November 20, 1997, after two days of deliberation, a Santa Ana, California jury found defendants Jeena Han, John Sayarath and Archie Bryant guilty of conspiracy to kill Han's twin sister Sunny. On May 8, 1998, Jeena Han was sentenced to 26 years to life in prison; Archie Bryant was sentenced to 16 years in prison, and John Sayarath received an 8-year, 4-month sentence. (However, Sayarath's sentence was put on hold in order to determine whether he would benefit by serving time in the California Youth Authority.)

Before her sentencing, Han reportedly begged Judge Eileen Moore for mercy.

"Sunny is my flesh and blood, and she believes in me 100 percent. "I feel very bad for all the pain I've caused my community and family."

Judge Moore, however, in rendering her sentence, showed Han no mercy and felt that she had manipulated Sayarath and Bryant into helping her plot her sister's murder.