Yang Zou Sentenced to 97 Months in Ice Case

          Today, SHAWN N. ANDERSON, Acting United States Attorney for the Districts of Guam and the Northern Mariana Islands (NMI), announced that defendant YANG ZOU, age 38, from Susupe, Saipan, was sentenced in District Court to a 97-month term of imprisonment for Possession with Intent to Distribute Methamphetamine.  The Court also ordered ZOU to serve four years of supervised release following his term of imprisonment.  In addition, defendants convicted of a federal drug offense may no longer qualify for certain federal benefits.

          On April 15, 2016, ZOU was approached by enforcement agents with the Commonwealth Casino Commission at the Best Sunshine Live Casino in Saipan.  Agents wanted to question him about his chip activity.  ZOU, however, immediately asked to use the restroom and, once inside a stall, placed a cigarette box containing methamphetamine into a wastebasket.  The drugs were discovered by a Best Sunshine bathroom attendant soon afterwards and eventually turned over to the Drug Enforcement Administration.  Subsequent testing showed the box contained 38.6 grams of methamphetamine with a 97 percent purity level.

          On December 2, 2016, ZOU was charged by Indictment with Possession with Intent to Distribute a Controlled Substance (Methamphetamine), in violation of 21 U.S.C. § 841(a)(1).  A jury found ZOU guilty on April 7, 2017, after a one-day trial.

          The investigation was conducted by the Drug Enforcement Administration, with the assistance and cooperation of the Commonwealth Casino Commission.  The case was prosecuted by Garth Backe, Assistant United States Attorney for the District of the NMI.