Vincent John Quitugua Sentenced to Prison in Ice Trafficking Case

          SHAWN N. ANDERSON, Acting United States Attorney for the Districts of Guam and the Northern Mariana Islands, announced that defendant VINCENT JOHN QUITUGUA, age 47, from Piti, was sentenced on July 6, 2017, in District Court to a 57-month concurrent term of imprisonment for possession of a controlled substance (methamphetamine) with intent to distribute, and maintaining a drug-involved premises. The Court also ordered QUITUGUA to pay a mandatory $200 assessment fee. In addition, defendants convicted of a federal drug offense may no longer qualify for certain federal benefits.

          On July 6, 2106, QUITUGUA entered a guilty plea to both crimes. The investigation revealed that QUITUGUA, a public school teacher, was selling methamphetamine and conducting an extensive marijuana grow operation from his Piti, Guam residences. QUITUGUA was discovered with over ten grams of methamphetamine with a purity level of 99%, approximately 121 living marijuana plants, 429 grams of processed marijuana, four firearms, $72,922.50 in U.S. currency as well as four scales, glass pipes and paraphernalia.

          The District Court noted that QUITUGUA is a public school teacher with over 20 years of experience in Guam’s middle school. Court expressed concern that QUITUGUA had four firearms in close proximity to the drugs, and noted that the sales of methamphetamine and the marijuana grow occurred in close proximity to a middle school. Court ordered that the currency, firearms and ammunition be forfeited to the U.S. government.

          The Drug Enforcement Administration and Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives conducted the investigation. The case was prosecuted by Rosetta San Nicolas, an Assistant United States Attorney for the District of Guam.