Anchorage, Alaska-Acting U.S. Attorney Kevin R. Feldis announced today that a jury has found an Anchorage man guilty of two drug trafficking crimes based on his efforts to distribute methamphetamine in June and October of 2014.
Boonchan Yang, a/k/a “Chowmein," 22, of Anchorage, Alaska, was convicted by the jury after only an hour of deliberation. He was found guilty first of distributing $1100 worth of methamphetamine on June 19, 2014. Four months later, on Oct. 3, 2014, Yang was involved in another drug sale for an entire ounce of methamphetamine. The jury convicted him of felony possession with the intent to distribute as a result of this conduct.
The evidence at trial showed that on June 19, 2014, Yang arranged to sell an informant half an ounce of methamphetamine and an AK-47. Text messages and recorded telephone conversations played at trial captured Yang arranging the deal. Law enforcement also videotaped the deal itself, which allowed the trial jury to actually watch a movie of Yang committing the crime.
On Oct. 3, 2014, Yang was again involved in drug trafficking activity. On that day, the evidence at trial showed that Yang brought an ounce of methamphetamine to a store parking lot in Anchorage intending to sell it for $1700. When he was confronted by law enforcement, Yang tried unsuccessfully to hide the drugs inside the car where he was sitting. Inside the car, he also had dime baggies used for drug distribution and a digital scale.
Senior United States District Court Judge H. Russel Holland presided over the trial. Judge Holland scheduled Yang’s sentencing for 9:00 a.m. on July 7, 2014. Yang faces a mandatory minimum sentence of five years on the counts of conviction and a statutory maximum sentence of up to 40 years.
In announcing the sentence, Mr. Feldis praised the work of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, Homeland Security Investigations, IRS Criminal Investigations, and the Anchorage Police Department, whose investigative efforts led to Yang’s conviction.
Source: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of the United States Attorneys
