California Man Sentenced to 120 Months in Prison for Sending Methamphetamine to Minnesota

A 33-year-old California man was sentenced yesterday in federal court for sending 90 grams of the highly addictive and dangerous drug methamphetamine via Federal Express from the West Coast to Minnesota. In Minneapolis, United States District Court Judge David Doty sentenced Bryan Ryu Inouye, Monterey Park, Calif., to 120 months in prison and five years of supervised release on one count of distribution in excess of 50 grams of methamphetamine. Inouye was indicted on May 12, 2008, and pleaded guilty on January 21, 2009.

In his plea agreement, Inouye admitted to distributing the methamphetamine by sending it to Minnesota on February 21, 2008. In addition, Inouye admitted he was responsible for the distribution of 50,000 tablets (12,500 grams) of the semisynthetic psychedelic drug MDMA, commonly known as ecstasy, as well as conspiring to distribute 5 kilograms of cocaine in California on May 3, 2008.

According to a Federal Bureau of Investigation affidavit, agents intercepted and recorded telephone calls between Inouye and a unnamed man in St. Paul in January and February 2008. The calls were about a shipment of illegal drugs from California to Minnesota by Inouye via Federal Express. During one of those calls, Inouye said he sent a package of crystal methamphetamine on February 20, 2008.

That package was intercepted by officers at the Minneapolis-St. Paul International Airport Federal Express facility, and was opened based on a federal search warrant. Inside was a Fram air filter and inside the filter was a plastic baggie containing 8 ounces of crystal methamphetamine. Per shipping records, authorities learned the package was shipped from a Fedex Kinko’s store in Baldwin, Calif., and eventually learned Inouye sent the package. Inouye was arrested on May 3, 2008. This case was the result of an investigation by the FBI and the St. Paul Police Department. It was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Christian S. Wilton.

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