United States Attorney Jenny A. Durkan
Western District of Washington
LYNDEN MAN SENTENCED TO 9 YEARS IN PRISON FOR CONSPIRACY TO DISTRIBUTE ECSTACY
Defendant Arranged to Sell Nearly 40 Kilos of MDMA to Undercover Agent
HARJINDER SINGH BRAR, 36, of Lynden, Washington, was sentenced today in U.S. District Court in Seattle to nine years in prison and three years of supervised release for Conspiracy to Distribute Ecstacy (MDMA). In October 2010, BRAR made a deal with an undercover agent to sell 200,000 tablets of ecstacy for $400,000. The ecstacy pills are sold in the greater Seattle area at a price of $10 to $15 per pill. As a result, the 200,000 ecstacy pills the defendant negotiated to sell have a street value of over $3 million dollars. U.S. District Judge John C. Coughenour imposed the sentence.
According to records filed in the case, in early October 2010, BRAR agreed to sell the ecstacy to the undercover agent, cutting the deal at a Starbucks in Bellingham, Washington. BRAR told the undercover officer that he had become a part owner of a berry farm on the border in order to facilitate drug smuggling between the U.S. and Canada. The undercover agent made specific requests, describing the type of pills he wanted by color and shape. About a week later, on October 18, 2010, at the Bellingham Starbucks, BRAR and an associate were arrested when they delivered the drugs to the undercover officer. Law enforcement recovered 26 heat sealed bags weighing 38.48 kilograms.
In court today, the prosecutor described how BRAR admitted being involved in 5-7 drug transactions since 2006. One of the transactions involved as much as 30 kilos of cocaine going north into Canada.
“The defendant’s efforts to conceal his criminal activity behind a legitimate business failed and, as a result, he is going to prison,” said Leigh Winchell, special agent in charge of Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) in Seattle. “This case demonstrates the resolve of HSI to pursue those who ignore our nation’s drug trafficking laws and highlights the penalties that await those who engage in narcotics smuggling.”
The case was investigated by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations. The case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Lisca Borichewski.
