Yang Sentenced for Drug Trafficking

The U.S. District Court for the Northern Mariana Islands sentenced Jian Zhong Yang yesterday to five years in prison.^[1] Yang was found guilty of conspiring with others to distribute a total of 7.47 grams of methamphetamine in Saipan two years ago.^[2] Chief Judge Alex R. Munson asserted after his sentence is complete that Yang will then be delivered to an Immigration official for deportation proceedings.^[3] During the supervised release, Yang will be required to participate in a program approved by the U.S. Probation Office for substance abuse as well as 200 hours of community work service.^[4]

At the hearing, assistant U.S. attorney Eric O'Mally recommended a sentence of five years and three months; federal criminal defense attorney Timothy H. Bellas recommended 57 months in prison. ^[5]

In June 2007, Yang pleaded guilty to conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute and to distribute a controlled substance.^[6] Yang admitted that he agreed with another person to distribute a total of 7.47 grams of methamphetamine from Jan. 25 to August 2005; Drug Enforcement Administration agents arrested Yang and co-defendant Gui Lin Shi on May 23, 2007.^[7]

Yang and Shi were charged with one count of conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute and to distribute a controlled substance, and two counts of distribution and possession with intent to distribute a controlled substance.^[8]

21 U.S.C § 841 covers possession with intent to distribute, in that statute it states that except as authorized by law, it shall be unlawful for any person knowingly or intentionally 1) to manufacture, distribute, or dispense, or possess with intent to manufacture, distribute, or dispense, a controlled substance;[9] or (2) to create, distribute, or dispense, or possess with intent to distribute or dispense, a counterfeit substance.^[10]

Federal criminal defense attorney Douglas McNabb has previously discussed the transnational crime of drug trafficking here.

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^[1] Ferdie de la Torre, Man gets five years in prison for 'ice' trafficking, Saipan Tribune, October 03, 2007, available at http://www.saipantribune.com/newsstory.aspx?cat=1&newsID=72935 (last visited October 2, 2007)
^[2] Id.
^[3] Id.
^[4] Id.
^[5] Id.
^[6] Id.
^[7] Id.
^[8] Id.
^[9] 21 U.S.C § 841(1)(2007).
^[10] Id. at § 841(2).