Quy Nguyen, the leader of a Vietnamese street gang whose trial in King County Superior Court began Wednesday, pleaded guilty Thursday to second-degree murder with a firearm and conspiracy to commit organized crime.

Nguyen — the leader of Young Seattle Boyz who operated marijuana grow houses and ordered a hit on victim Hoang Nguyen in January 2007 — also agreed to plead guilty in federal court to conspiracy to manufacture marijuana, according to his plea statement.

King County prosecutors will recommend that Nguyen be sentenced to 25 years in prison, a term that will run concurrent to his federal prison sentence, the statement says.

Last Friday, Jerry Henry Thomas III — the hired hit man who fatally shot Hoang Nguyen outside his Tukwila apartment complex — pleaded guilty to second-degree murder with a firearm. Prosecutors will recommend a 23-year sentence for Thomas, 25, said Dan Donohoe, spokesman for King County Prosecutor Dan Satterberg.

Last week, another defendant in the case, Le Nhu Le, 43, pleaded guilty to one charge of conspiracy to commit leading organized crime in the state case and in federal court to conspiracy to manufacture marijuana.

As part of the plea deal, Le was to testify against Nguyen and Thomas during both the Superior Court and federal trials.

Prosecutors have recommended he serve a total of five years in prison.

Opening statements in the case against Nguyen were held Wednesday before Superior Court Judge Julie Spector and the trial was expected to last six to eight weeks.

Sara Jean Green: 206-515-5654 or sgreen@seattletimes.com