Two men arrested in Tacoma exactly one year ago, were sentenced today in U.S. District Court in Tacoma to federal prison sentences for Conspiracy to Distribute Ecstasy (MDMA). TOAN TRAN, 28, of Lynnwood, Washington was sentenced to eight years in prison and three years of supervised release for the drug conspiracy and for Possession of a Firearm in Furtherance of a Drug Crime. NOP VAN LAM, 31, or Tacoma, Washington, was sentenced to nine years in prison and three years of supervised release for the drug conspiracy. At sentencing U.S. District Judge Ronald B. Leighton noted the damage to the community by drug dealing, telling the defendants, “I am constantly amazed by the inability of some people to understand how destructive their behavior is to other people.”

According to records filed in the case, an investigation of ecstasy dealing by the Drug Enforcement Administration Tahoma Narcotics Enforcement Team (DEA/TNET) identified the men as sources of ecstasy in the Tacoma area. On March 12, 2009, officers watched TRAN arrive at LAM’s Tacoma home. The men traveled to the Tacoma Mall, where they had agreed to sell 12,000 ecstasy pills. LAM and TRAN were arrested in the midst of the drug deal. TRAN was armed with a loaded Baretta 9mm semi-automatic pistol. The gun had been reported stolen. A search of TRAN’s Lynnwood apartment turned up two additional guns, methamphetamine, cocaine and more than $6,000 in cash. LAM has a prior conviction for distribution of ecstasy from 2002.

The case was investigated by the Drug Enforcement Administration Tahoma Narcotics Enforcement Team (DEA/TNET), and was prosecuted by Special Assistant United States Attorney Doug Hill. Mr. Hill is a Deputy Pierce County Prosecutor specially designated to prosecute drug cases in federal court.

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

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