California Methamphetamine Trafficker Receives More Than 11 Years in Federal Prison
WILMINGTON, N.C. – Rotiha Chan, 38, of Stockton, California, was sentenced on Friday, January 28, to 136 months in prison for conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute and distribution of 500 grams or more of a substance containing methamphetamine and distribution of 50 grams or more of a substance containing methamphetamine.
According to court documents and other evidence presented in court, the United States Postal Service seized one pound of methamphetamine that Chan had sent to Rocky Run Road in New Bern, North Carolina, from Stockton, California on December 2, 2019. A second package was seized by law enforcement nine days later. This package contained another pound of methamphetamine and this time it was addressed to Harbourside Drive in New Bern, North Carolina.
On March 3, 2020, an undercover Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco, Firearms & Explosives (ATF) agent ordered methamphetamine from Chan. Several days later ATF received two packages from Chan which contained approximately 400 grams of methamphetamine. However, the undercover agent contacted Chan and claimed that the packages had been seized by law enforcement and ordered another pound of methamphetamine. As a result, Chan sent two more packages which contained more than 400 grams of methamphetamine.
On April 3, 2020, U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) agents encountered Chan and two others at the Columbus, Ohio airport and seized more than $70,000.
On April 15, 2020, ATF purchased another 800 grams of methamphetamine from Chan. Chan sent the methamphetamine in two packages to Eastern North Carolina. Chan was arrested on January 26, 2021, by ATF agents in Stockton, California.
The investigation uncovered that Chan was distributing kilogram amounts of methamphetamine, cocaine and marijuana to New Jersey, Ohio, and North Carolina.
This is part of operation “Fighting Jelly Fish” which is part of an Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force (OCDETF) investigation. OCDETF identifies, disrupts, and dismantles the highest-level drug traffickers, money launderers, gangs, and transnational criminal organizations that threaten the United States by using a prosecutor-led, intelligence-driven, multi-agency approach that leverages the strengths of federal, state and local law enforcement agencies against criminal networks.
Michael Easley, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of North Carolina made the announcement after sentencing by Chief U.S. District Judge Richard E. Myers II. The ATF, the DEA and the United States Postal Inspection Service, the Craven County Sheriff’s Office and the Kinston Police Department investigated the case. Assistant U.S. Attorney Timothy Severo prosecuted the case.
The DEA encourages parents, along with their children, to educate themselves about the dangers of legal and illegal drugs by visiting DEA’s interactive websites at www.JustThinkTwice.com, www.GetSmartAboutDrugs.com, www.CampusDrugPrevention.gov, and www.dea.gov. Also follow DEA Atlanta via Twitter at @DEAATLANTADiv.
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