Anchorage, Alaska - U.S. Attorney Karen Loeffler announced today that an Anchorage man has been sentenced by Senior United States District Court Judge H. Russel Holland to serve 72 months in federal prison for distributing methamphetamine on two separate occasions.
Boonchan Yang, a/k/a “Chowmein," 22, of Anchorage, Alaska, was previously convicted by a jury of two separate drug trafficking crimes. He was found guilty of distributing $1100 worth of methamphetamine on June 19, 2014, as part of combined gun and drug transaction. Four months later, on Oct. 3, 2014, Yang was involved in another drug sale involving an ounce of methamphetamine. The jury convicted him of two counts of distribution and possession with intent to distribute narcotics as a result of these actions.
According to Assistant United States Attorney Stephanie C. Courter, who prosecuted the case, 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 Yang committing the crime in real time.
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.
At sentencing, Judge Holland also considered the fact that, between the two drug deals of which he was convicted, Yang was also involved in more drug related conduct. Specifically, on June 26, 2014, Yang was stopped by the Anchorage Police Department while in possession of methamphetamine, baggies used for drug distribution, and a handgun.
In sentencing Yang, Judge Holland noted the need for the sentence to promote respect for the law and protect the public from future drug trafficking crimes. He also remarked that the trajectory of Yang’s conduct was worrisome, calling Yang an intermediate level drug dealer whose conduct was made all the more dangerous given his introduction of firearms.
In announcing the sentence, U.S. Attorney Loeffler praised 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 prosecution and conviction.
Source: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of the United States Attorneys
