June 3, 10

NEWS / Three Pennsylvania Men Charged with Conspiracy to Purchase and Distribute Large Quantities of Illega

WASHINGTON - Three Pennsylvania men were charged today with conspiracy to possess and intending to distribute oxycodone, ecstasy and marijuana, announced Assistant Attorney General Lanny A. Breuer and U.S. Attorney Zane David Memeger for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania.

Quynh Nguyen, 35, of Philadelphia; Binh Tong, 38, of Harleysville, Penn.; and Robert Cohen, 23, of Philadelphia were each charged with conspiracy to possess with the intent to distribute and attempted possession with the intent to distribute oxycodone, ecstasy and marijuana. According to the indictment, Nguyen, Tong and Cohen traveled from Philadelphia to Seattle to meet with a person they believed to be a drug dealer, but who was in fact an undercover Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) special agent. During this meeting, Nguyen and Tong allegedly negotiated a deal to buy 11,000 oxycontin pills, 10,000 ecstasy pills and 50 pounds of marijuana, to be delivered to Philadelphia. According to the indictment, the defendants arrived at a hotel in Philadelphia on May 25, 2010, to meet with a person they believed to be a drug courier but who in fact was a second undercover ICE special agent. The defendants allegedly arrived at the hotel with more than $100,000 in cash to purchase the drugs.

The conspiracy to posses with intent to distribute and attempted possession with intent to distribute charges each carry a maximum prison sentence of 20 years and a $1 million fine.

The case is being prosecuted by Trial Attorney Robert J. Livermore of the Organized Crime and Racketeering Section. It is being investigated by ICE special agents.

An indictment is merely an accusation and the defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty.

http://www.justice.gov/opa/pr/2010/June/10-crm-643.html