QUINCY MAN CONVICTED OF DRUG AND FIREARM CRIMES

A Quincy man was convicted on Friday, February 22, 2008 in federal court of conspiring to distribute and distributing ecstasy and methamphetamine and firearm charges.

United States Attorney Michael J. Sullivan and June W. Stansbury, Special Agent in Charge of the Drug Enforcement Administration - New England Field Division, Warren Bamford, Special Agent in Charge of the Federal Bureau of Investigation - New England Field Division, Glenn A. Anderson, Special Agent in Charge of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives - Boston Field Division, Douglas A. Bricker, Special Agent in Charge of the Internal Revenue Service, Criminal Investigation - Boston Field Office, and Boston Police Commissioner Edward Davis announced today that DIEP VAN NGUYEN, age 34 years, of 34 Harris Street, Quincy, pleaded guilty before U.S. District Judge Patti B. Saris to conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute ecstasy and methamphetamine, distribution of ecstasy and methamphetamine, and being a felon in possession of a firearm and ammunition.

At the plea hearing, the prosecutor told the Court that, had the case proceeded to trial, the Government’s evidence would have proven that NGUYEN conspired from 2004 through August 2006 to distribute ecstasy and methamphetamine, which he received from a source in Canada. The Government was prepared to offer evidence from several cooperating defendants from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania who traveled to Massachusetts in 2006 to purchase drugs from NGUYEN. In addition, the Government made a controlled purchase of 300 pills of ecstasy and methamphetamine from NGUYEN on June 6, 2006, in Quincy. Furthermore, on February 2, 2007, NGUYEN possessed a 9 mm pistol with an extended barrel and ammunition, which he threw onto the roof of his apartment at 34 Harris Street as law enforcement agents were breaking into the back door of the apartment in executing an arrest warrant for him.

Judge Saris scheduled sentencing for May 28, 2008. NGUYEN faces a mandatory term of ten years' to life imprisonment, to be followed by a mandatory eight years of supervised release, and up to a $4,000,000 fine for each drug conviction. He also faces a mandatory term of 15 years' to life imprisonment and up to a $250,000 fine for the firearm conviction.

The case was jointly investigated by the Drug Enforcement Administration; Federal Bureau of Investigation; Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives; Internal Revenue Service, Criminal Investigation; and the Special Investigations Unit of the Boston Police Department. It is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys James D. Herbert, Richard L. Hoffman and Timothy E. Moran of Sullivan’s Organized Crime Strike Force Unit.