FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Thursday, April 10, 2008
JAMES HIRASE PLEADS GUILTY IN U.S. FEDERAL COURT
Bill Mercer, United States Attorney for the District of Montana, announced today that during a federal court session in Billings on April 10, 2008, before Chief U.S. District Judge Richard F. Cebull, JAMES HIRASE, a resident of Salt Lake City, Utah, pled guilty to possession with the intent to distribute methamphetamine. Sentencing is set for July 16, 2008. He is currently detained.
At the change of plea proceeding, the government stated it would have proved at trial the following:
From approximately June of 2005 until March of 2006, HIRASE, Steve Englert, Cynthia Hughes and Jo Lynn Penrod were involved in a conspiracy to possess with the intent to distribute methamphetamine in Montana. During the period of the conspiracy, Englert, Hughes and other individuals traveled to Salt Lake City to meet with HIRASE and Penrod to obtain methamphetamine for redistribution in Montana.
Englert and Penrod pled guilty to federal charges. Hughes was found guilty after a trial. All three have been sentenced.
HIRASE faces possible penalties of a minimum mandatory ten years in prison and could be sentenced to life in prison, a $4,000,000 fine and 5 years supervised release.
Assistant U.S. Attorney James E. Seykora prosecuted the case for the United States.
The investigation was a cooperative effort between the Drug Enforcement Administration and the High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area (HIDTA) Task Force.
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