RUSTY BOSCHEE, 33, of West Linn, Oregon, was sentenced today in U.S. District Court in Seattle to five years in prison and four years of supervised release for Conspiracy to Distribute Marijuana. As part of his plea agreement, signed February 12, 2008, BOSCHEE is forfeiting to the government $3.3 million in cash that was seized from him at the time of his arrest in Wyoming. At sentencing today, U.S. District Judge Thomas S. Zilly noted, “It’s an incredible amount of cash and marijuana you got yourself involved with.”

According to the statement of facts in the plea agreement, BOSCHEE entered into a criminal conspiracy to distribute marijuana. He rented a trailer in March of 2007, for transporting Canadian grown “B.C. Bud” marijuana. BOSCHEE parked the trailer in Stanwood, Washington, and left it, knowing other conspirators would load it with marijuana. The trailer was loaded with more than 295 kilos of B.C. Bud. BOSCHEE then drove the load across the U.S. delivering the drugs to Chicago and New York. BOSCHEE accepted payment for the marijuana, $3,322,230 in cash. As part of the investigation, BOSCHEE was stopped by a Wyoming State Patrol Trooper with the cash in his truck on April 7, 2007. The money was confiscated. BOSCHEE was indicted on September 5, 2007.

At sentencing today, Special Assistant united States Attorney Adam Cornell told the court the money belonged to organized criminals in Canada who could have done great harm to BOSCHEE or the people he cared about. “This is big business,” Cornell said. “The marijuana trade is big business and Boschee was a trusted courier. The organized criminal group will not suffer, because they do it on the backs of people like Mr. Boschee.”

In his letter to the court, BOSCHEE wrote that before his arrest he had been a daily user of marijuana and “...thought nothing bad could ever come from my drug use..... In the end marijuana is no different or less harmful than any other illegal drug. It has just as much potential for abuse and is able to ruin lives, the same as any drug legal or otherwise.” BOSCHEE went on to note he had seen many drug addicted inmates at the Federal Detention Center, and that they had told him their addiction began with marijuana. Judge Zilly said he wished BOSCHEE’s letter could be widely read. It is posted in the court’s electronic filing system.

This was an Organized Crime and Drug Enforcement Task Force (OCDETF) investigation, providing supplemental federal funding to the federal and state agencies involved. The case was investigated by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) and the Drug Enforcement Administration. The Snohomish Regional Drug Task Force and the Wyoming Highway Patrol provided key assistance to the investigation.

The case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Doug Whalley and Special Assistant United States Attorney Adam Cornell. Mr. Cornell is a Snohomish County Deputy Prosecutor specially designated to handle 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.

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