Kristina Sunshine Jung is an American entrepreneur and business woman, born on 1 August 1978, in California USA. She’s known only for being the daughter of the former drug lord George Jung.
Early Life
Kristina Sunshine Jung was born the daughter of George Jung and Mirtha Calderon. There’s not much information about her early education, but it’s known that she had a rough childhood due to her parents’ divorce when she was six years old, and their living situation and criminal life.
When she was very young, her father was imprisoned for drug trafficking and her mother for drug possession. Due to this complicated situation, Kristina Sunshine was raised by Frederick and Erminalia Jung, her paternal grandparents.
It’s said that they were kind to her, often gifting her clothes and toys, giving young Kristine stability as a child. When Kristine’s grandfather Frederick died she moved out with her aunt Marie Jung, who raised Kristine until she moved out of her house when she turned 18 years old.
Career
Blow – 2001
Public spotlight focused on Kristina Sunshine after the biographical movie “Blow” was released in 2001, starring Johnny Depp and Penelope Cruz. The movie focused on the story of Kristine’s father George Jung, also known as “Boston George” and “El Americano”, a former member of Medellin Cartel and responsible for trafficking cocaine into US during the decades of 1970 and 1980, becoming one of the more powerful drug lords in the world during that time.
Kristina Sunshine also appeared in said movie, acting in a scene of said movie alongside Depp. However, the scene was only included in the DVD edition of the movie due to a petition by the US Government. Brief as it was, this was Kristina only role as an actress to date.
Entrepreneurship
Kristina Sunshine became an entrepreneur when she started her own clothing line called “BG Apparel and Merchandise”. It’s said that her father funded said project, but it’s Kristina who has remained as the manager, and has run the business ever since its start.
Personal Life
Romantic Relationships and Children
Kristina Sunshine married a man named Romain Karan, but it’s unknown when they married or their actual relationship status. There’s also no information about Karan’s personal life or career.
Posted by Kristina Sunshine Jung on Wednesday, December 4, 2013
They had a daughter together whose name is Athena Romina Karan; her date of birth is also unknown.
Parents – Who Are They?
Kristina Sunshine’s relationship with both her parents is an important aspect of her life. Both of them passed years in prison for different reasons, a fact that made Kristina’s childhood and teens difficult due to the lack of parental figures. Besides that, as her father was one of the most infamous drug lords to ever live in the US, that made her life even more out of the ordinary.
Father – George Jung
Kristina’s father George Jung was born 6 August 1942, in Boston, Massachusetts USA. He became known for being a major figure in the drug trade to the US from Colombia during the 1970s.
From a family of German origins, George’s early life was spent in Weymouth, Massachusetts. He matriculated from Weymouth High School, and studied in the University Of Southern Mississippi for a degree that he never finished, but in his time at University, he started consuming marijuana.
In 1967 he realized the potential profit the marijuana trade could provide him. His girlfriend at the time was in charge of transporting small amounts of the drug, but George started expanding operations when he started trading marijuana from Mexico. His business expanded so much, that the profit was estimated to be at least $250.000 a month, which is over $1 million today.
Although George’s first arrest was for solicitation of prostitution during his teens, he was arrested a second time in 1974 for marijuana possession and trading.
During his time in prison, he met Carlos Lehder Rivas, who had connections with Medellin Cartel, one of the most powerful in the world at the time. Carlos introduced George to the cocaine trading business, and when they were both released after a year in prison, they became associates in the drug trafficking business, trading cocaine from Pablo Escobar in Colombia to the US.
Even though George was not the leader or main man of the operations, he profited by millions from it. He and his associates started expanding their trading by using airplanes, which traveled from Colombia to California with large amounts of cocaine, profiting by millions every day. By 1970 it’s said that Jung earned an estimated of $5 million per day, money which he kept in the National Bank of Panama to evade taxes and legal inquiries about the origin of the money.
By the end of the 1970s, Carlos Lehder cut Jung out of the business, but this didn’t stop George as he re-acquainted with his old associates and continued with his criminal activities.
In 1987, Jung was arrested for the third time in Massachusetts, but he was imprisoned only for a few years. Jung kept himself away from the criminal life for a few years after he his release, until he re-connected with his associates in Mexico to continue his old business of marijuana trade. This time though, his criminal activities were short lived, as he was once again imprisoned in 1995, for possession of 1.754 pounds of marijuana, and for conspiracy. He was sentenced with 60 years in prison.
In 2014 he was released from custody into a halfway house, but after two years he committed a parole violation, a paid appearance in San Diego without his parole officer’s permission, and was again arrested.
He was once again released in 2017 after completing his punishment.
Mother – Mirtha Jung
Mirtha Jung was born Mirtha Calderon in Cuba in 1952, and married George Jung in March 1977. In 1978 she gave birth to Kristina Sunshine, however, she was a drug addict and it’s said that she maintained her addiction even during her pregnancy. Jung’s dealings with drugs also encouraged Mirtha to maintain her addiction until 1981, when she was arrested for drug possession. However, this time in prison allowed Mirtha to reflect on her addiction, and she stopped consuming drugs.
In 1984 and after being clear of drugs for a couple years, Mirtha filed for divorce. She never re-married; there’s not much information about her later life.
Kristina’s Relationship With Her Parents
Kristina’s relationship with his mother is in good terms, and it’s said that she has kept in contact with her during the years, and even wrote a book about her. Kristina’s relationship with her father is different though. Kristina stopped visiting his father in prison when she was a teen, and the relationship between the two became strained by the fact that George was constantly imprisoned, and his dealing in drug trafficking.
Kristina kept away from her father until 2014, when she started visiting him again shortly before he was released from prison. However, Jung expressed that the relationship between father and daughter ‘has since fizzled, in part because his daughter can’t forgive him’, though it’s said that Jung provided the funds for Kristina’s own brand “BG Apparel and Merchandise”.
After his arrest in 2016 and release in 2017, Kristina and George started rebuilding their relationship again.
Net Worth
Kristina’s net worth is estimated to be over $150,000, the result of her work as the main owner of the brand “BG Apparel and Merchandise”. We hope her net worth can continue growing.
Appearance
Kristina is a woman of white ethnicity. Her hair is blonde and eyes are brown, and is 5ft 6ins (1.68m) tall.
Interesting facts
Kristina’s role in “Blow” was done by Emma Roberts.
Kristine is present in social media, especially in Instagram.
Her parents had an age difference of 10 years when they married.
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