Fridley Man Sentenced to 66 Months for Distributing Ecstasy

A 21-year-old Fridley man was sentenced yesterday to 66 months in prison on one count of possession with intent to distribute the semisynthetic psychedelic drug MDMA, commonly known as ecstasy.

United States District Court Judge James Rosenbaum also sentenced Pierre Tchy Txou Yang to three years of supervised release July 21 in Minneapolis. Yang was indicted on Nov. 8, 2007, and pleaded guilty on Jan. 22.

According to Yang’s plea agreement, he knowingly and intentionally possessed with intent to distribute approximately 2,000 tablets, weighing about 500 grams, of the drug on Oct. 19, 2007.

According to a Federal Bureau of Investigation affidavit, witnesses observed individuals in a white Toyota Scion begin shooting at another vehicle near the intersection of University and Western avenues in St. Paul. Police learned that the vehicle belonged to Yang, set up surveillance at Yang’s Fridley residence and observed four individuals get out of the vehicle and enter the home.

After a couple of minutes, all four individuals came out of the house and got back into the vehicle. Officers approached the vehicle and told the occupants to remain in the vehicle. Instead, Yang put the vehicle in reverse and began to exit the driveway at a high rate of speed. The vehicle struck a parked vehicle in the street and sped away.

Officers stopped the vehicle approximately one block from the house and arrested all four individuals. During a search warrant of Yang’s residence, police recovered a .40-caliber semiautomatic handgun and approximately 2,000 pills of ecstasy, along with numerous items of gang indicia.

This case was the result of an investigation by the FBI and the St. Paul Police Department, and was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Christian S. Wilton.

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