News Release [print friendly page]
October 7, 2002

NIGHTCLUB OWNER PLEADS GUILTY TO LEADING ECSTASY DISTRIBUTION RING

John McKay, United States Attorney for the Western District of Washington, announced that today, NHO VAN VO appeared in federal district court in Seattle and pleaded guilty to leading a conspiracy to distribute illegal drugs, including ecstasy, cocaine, and marijuana, in Washington and elsewhere during 2000 through 2002. This guilty plea caps a year-long investigation conducted by the Drug Enforcement Administration and local law enforcement, in which 34 defendants were charged beginning in January 2002, and all 34 of whom have now pleaded guilty, and either been sentenced, or are awaiting sentencing.

During 2000, through 2002, NHO VAN VO, owned and operated "ULTRA SPEED," an automotive business, and "CLUB NV," a nightclub, both located in the International District of Seattle. Both businesses were used in furtherance of drug trafficking activity. During the 2-year period ending upon his arrest in January 2002, VO was responsible for acquiring and distributing, through a number of coconspirators, volume quantities of MDMA ("ecstasy"), cocaine, and marijuana. VO's distributors included various club and music promoters VO met through his involvement in the music and club promotion business. In excess of 10,000 pills were seized during the investigation which included a court-authorized wiretap. As a result of investigation, authorities were able to identify and arrest numerous persons playing supporting roles in furtherance of this conspiracy. At the time of arrest, several firearms were recovered from the drug traffickers, and close to $250,000 has been confiscated. Investigation established that the ring was responsible for the local distribution of well in excess of 60,000 pills of ecstasy. Various of the defendants acknowledged, as part of their guilty pleas, engaging in distributions of ecstasy to individuals under the age of 21, and will receive a federal sentencing enhancement as a result of such conduct due to increased penalties which apply to such distributions.

In addition to obtaining the numerous convictions in this case, and thereby disrupting and dismantling a major drug distribution ring centered in Seattle, other results have also been achieved. ULTRA SPEED and CLUB NV have closed. In addition, "CLUB FX" a local "rave venue" where distributions of VO's drugs were ongoing, has also closed. Further, the case has generated much public attention and awareness regarding the documented dangers of ecstasy use, which includes hyperthermia, brain damage, and death. In addition to pleading guilty, various of the defendants, who themselves were personally familiar with the hazardous effects of ecstasy, have elected to participate in an education program law enforcement will be conducting in local high schools in the coming months, whereby the defendants will talk to young people, regarding their first-hand experience as to the serious side effects of ecstasy use, and the trouble one gets into by distributing it. Warnings by some of these individuals have already been posted on web sites.

The particular roles of the various defendants who have pleaded guilty, and their dispositions, are summarized below.

NHO VAN VO, 27 years of age, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to distribute "ecstasy," cocaine, and marijuana, and is pending sentencing. VO faces a mandatory minimum sentence of not less than 10 years' imprisonment. As part of his plea agreement, both the defense and the government agreed to jointly recommend a sentence of 13 years' imprisonment, to be followed by 5 years of federal supervised release.

Nhat Van Vo, 23, Nho Van's Vo's brother, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to distribute ecstasy, and is pending sentencing. As part of his guilty plea, Nhat Van Vo acknowledged criminally assisting Nho Van Vo in the distribution of ecstasy.

Dat Le, 28, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to distribute ecstasy and marijuana, and is pending sentencing. As part of his guilty plea, Le acknowledged being one of several individuals who supplied ecstasy to Vo for further distribution.

Felicia Hollenbeck, 24, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to distribute ecstasy and marijuana, and is pending sentencing. As part of her guilty plea, Hollenbeck acknowledged being an ecstasy distributor for Vo, and to having a leadership role in her own sub-distribution drug network.

Christopher Brand, 28, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to distribute ecstasy, and is pending sentencing. As part of his guilty plea, Brand acknowledged distributing ecstasy for Felicia Hollenbeck at "rave" venues in Seattle, Washington, including CLUB FX. Brand admitted providing "ecstasy" pills to employed staff at CLUB FX, so that they would give him clear passage to sell ecstasy pills there.

Devon Jackson, 29, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to distribute ecstasy and marijuana, and is pending sentencing. As part of his guilty plea, Jackson, who ran a music promotion company named "ROCKET PROMOTIONS", and had worked with Vo at "PLANET HOLLYWOOD" in Seattle, acknowledged being a drug distributor for Vo.

William Ripley, 21, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to distribute ecstasy, and is pending sentencing. As part of his guilty plea, Ripley, a "rave" promoter who ran "TRENCHTOWN ENTERTAINMENT," a "rave" promotion company, acknowledged being an ecstasy distributor for Vo.

Garvice William Eakins, 21, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to distribute ecstasy, cocaine, and marijuana, and is awaiting sentencing. As part of his guilty plea, Eakins, a music promoter who ran "BASELINE PRODUCTIONS," a music promotion company, acknowledged being a drug distributor for Vo.

Jonathon Tuckness, 22, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to distribute ecstasy, and was sentenced to 30 months' imprisonment. As part of his guilty plea, Tuckness, who helped establish and run "TRENCHTOWN ENTERTAINMENT," a "rave" promotion company, acknowledged delivering ecstasy to Felicia Hollenbeck for further distribution.

Ross Hollenbeck, 20, Felicia Hollenbeck's brother, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to distribute ecstasy and marijuana, and was sentenced to 18 months' imprisonment. As part of his guilty plea, Hollenbeck, who ran "URBAN OUTCAST ENTERTAINMENT," a "rave" promotion music company, acknowledged being an ecstasy distributor for Felicia Hollenbeck.

Anthony Fletcher, 27, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to distribute ecstasy, cocaine, and marijuana, and was sentenced to 60 months' imprisonment. As part of his guilty plea, Fletcher, who had worked security for Vo at PLANET HOLLYWOOD and at CLUB NV, acknowledged being a drug distributor for Vo.

Reymundo Lopez, 22, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to distribute cocaine and marijuana, and was sentenced to 60 months' imprisonment. As part of his guilty plea, Lopez acknowledged delivering kilogram quantities of cocaine for further distribution by Vo, and to being a marijuana distributor for Vo.

Michelle Hoang, 25, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to distribute ecstasy, and was sentenced to 57 months' imprisonment. As part of her guilty plea, Hoang acknowledged being an ecstasy distributor for Vo.

Richard Easterling, 40, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to distribute ecstasy, and was sentenced to 57 months' imprisonment. As part of his guilty plea, Easterling acknowledged being an ecstasy distributor for Felicia Hollenbeck and to selling those pills at night clubs in Seattle, Washington.

Tuofic El-Masri, 31, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to distribute ecstasy, and was sentenced to 41 months' imprisonment. As part of his guilty plea, El-Masri acknowledged transporting 1,000 pill quantities of ecstasy from California to Seattle for further distribution by Vo.

Anh-Tuan Ngo, 34, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to distribute marijuana, and was sentenced to 40 months' imprisonment. As part of his guilty plea, Ngo acknowledged delivering kilogram quantities of British Columbia marijuana to Vo.

Alan Mar, 25, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to distribute ecstasy, and was sentenced to 37 months' imprisonment. As part of his guilty plea, Mar, an employee at ULTRA SPEED, acknowledged being an ecstasy distributor for Vo.

Randall Moore, 25, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to distribute ecstasy and ketamine (a prohibited horse tranquilizer also marketed as "ecstasy"), and was sentenced to 37 months' imprisonment. As part of his guilty plea, Moore acknowledged being an ecstasy distributor for Felicia Hollenbeck.

Christopher Young, 30, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to distribute ecstasy, and was sentenced to 30 months' imprisonment. As part of his guilty plea, Young acknowledged being an ecstasy distributor for Felicia Hollenbeck, and to selling that ecstasy at CLUB FX.

Wade Hinshaw, 22, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to distribute ecstasy, and was sentenced to 24 months' imprisonment. As part of his guilty plea, Hinshaw, an employee at ULTRA SPEED, acknowledged being an ecstasy distributor for Vo.

Joshua Kilby, 23, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to distribute ecstasy, and was sentenced to 24 months' imprisonment. As part of his guilty plea, Kilby acknowledged being an ecstasy distributor, and to making ecstasy sales to various individuals, including military servicemen.

Jesse Orton, 24, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to distribute ecstasy, and was sentenced to 24 months' imprisonment. As part of his guilty plea, Orton acknowledged being an ecstasy distributor, and to making ecstasy sales to various individuals, including military servicemen.

Cienna Newsome, 22, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to distribute ecstasy, and was sentenced to 5 months' imprisonment, to be followed by three years' federal supervised release. As part of her guilty plea, Newsome acknowledged being an ecstasy distributor for Felicia Hollenbeck and to selling that ecstasy at CLUB FX.

Ben Peterson, 20, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to distribute ecstasy, and was sentenced to 30 days' imprisonment, to be followed by three years' supervised release. As part of his guilty plea, Peterson acknowledged distributing ecstasy for Felicia Hollenbeck at "rave" venues in Seattle, Washington.

Patrick Healy, 54, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to distribute ecstasy, and was sentenced to 36 months' federal probation. As part of his guilty plea, Healy acknowledged picking up ecstasy pills from Felicia Hollenbeck and distributing those pills to others at night spots in Seattle.

Kit Van Wong, 35, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to distribute ecstasy and marijuana, and is pending sentencing. As part of his guilty plea, Wong acknowledged being a drug distributor for Vo.

Nop Van Lam, 23, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to distribute ecstasy, and is pending sentencing. As part of his guilty plea, Lam acknowledged being an ecstasy distributor for Vo.

Matthew Martinez, 31, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to distribute ecstasy, and is pending sentencing. As part of his guilty plea, Martinez acknowledged being an ecstasy distributor.

Tuan Van Le, 27, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to distribute marijuana, and is pending sentencing. As part of his guilty plea, Le acknowledged being a marijuana distributor.

Carl Snell, 26, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to distribute ecstasy, and is pending sentencing. As part of his guilty plea, Snell acknowledged being an ecstasy distributor for Felicia Hollenbeck.

Kamau Curnal, 29, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to distribute ecstasy, and is awaiting sentencing. As part of his guilty plea, Curnal acknowledged distributing ecstasy received from Felicia Hollenbeck.

Richard Rackliff, 27, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to distribute ecstasy, and is pending sentencing. As part of his guilty plea, Rackliff acknowledged distributing ecstasy for Felicia Hollenbeck.

Kristina Placek, 22, pleaded guilty to identification document fraud in violation of federal law and is awaiting sentencing.

This case is before the Honorable Barbara Jacobs Rothstein, U.S. District Court Judge in Seattle, Washington.

The case could not have been successfully investigated without the assistance and involvement of multiple law enforcement agencies who should be commended, including the Drug Enforcement Administration, Seattle Police Department, Naval Criminal Investigative Service, South Snohomish Narcotics Task Force, United States Social Security Administration, King County Sheriff's Office, Eastside Narcotics Task Force, Internal Revenue Service, Oak Harbor Police Department, Immigration and Naturalization Service, Army Criminal Investigation Division, Washington State Patrol, and Oregon law enforcement authorities. This case was a product of the intelligence and resources of the Organized Crime Drug Task Force (OCDTF) and Northwest High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area Task Force (NWHIDTA).

Assistant United States Attorney Ron Friedman prosecuted the case.

For further information please contact Executive Assistant United States Attorney John Hartingh at (206) 553-4110.