BUONMARK MYSAENGSAY, 43, of Surrey, British Columbia, Canada, was sentenced today to seven years in prison and five years of supervised release in U.S. District Court in Seattle for Conspiracy to Distribute MDMA (Ecstasy) and three counts of Distribution of Ecstasy. MYSAENGSAY was convicted following a five day jury trial in front of U.S. District Judge Ricardo S. Martinez. At today’s sentencing hearing, Judge Martinez noted that as a border state, Washington is being inundated with ecstasy. He noted “there are stories in the paper of people using this drug and overdosing and dying.”

According to testimony at trial, MYSAENGSAY conspired with another defendant to distribute thousands of ecstasy pills. MYSAENGSAY brought the drugs into the U.S. after obtaining it from a supplier in Canada. Telephone records introduced at trial show MYSAENGSAY was in close contact with his co-conspirator just before and after the co-conspirator delivered the drugs to a police informant on three separate occasions. On March 31, 2006, MYSAENGSAY was present in the parking lot at a south King County hardware store where his co-conspirator was to meet with the police informant to sell 4,000 pills. A security camera at a nearby casino photographed the men together. MYSAENGSAY tried to hide his involvement by having his wife carry the bag of drugs from their car to the co-conspirator’s car. Seattle police moved in and arrested both men. After he was arrested, MYSAENGSAY told police the four “boats” of ecstasy were all that he had brought in from Canada on this trip. When he testified at trial, MYSAENGSAY, (a Laotian immigrant who has lived in Canada for sixteen years) claimed he did not understand the police officer’s questions.

In asking for a significant sentence Assistant United States Attorney Todd Greenberg pointed out that MYSAENGSAY had lied at trial under oath on the witness stand, and that he had involved his family in the criminal activity. As Mr. Greenberg wrote in his sentencing memo, “Not only did Mysaengsay’s conduct result in his own arrest, and that of his wife, all of this occurred while they were away from home on a family trip with their young children.”

Judge Martinez agreed saying, “Even at this point in time with overwhelming evidence, Mr. Mysaengsay has difficulty admitting what he did. He decided to go to trial... he decided not to accept responsibility for his criminal conduct.”

The case was investigated by the Seattle Police Department and the FBI. The case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Todd Greenberg.

For additional information please contact Emily Langlie, Public Affairs Officer for the United States Attorney’s Office, at (206) 553-4110.