Three Kent men, a Des Moines man and a Federal Way man were sentenced Friday to prison terms by U.S. District Court Judge John C. Coughenour for their involvement in growing marijuana.
The five men, all related to each other by blood or marriage, each owned a South County home that had been modified to grow marijuana, according to a media release Friday from the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Seattle. In a couple of the cases, nobody lived at the homes that were in the middle of residential neighborhoods.
The houses were all searched on Sept. 10, 2008, when law enforcement officers executed warrants at thirteen homes in the South King County region.
The five men sentenced included:
• Ton Chi Duong, 60, of Kent, was sentenced to five years in prison and four years of supervised release for manufacturing marijuana. At his home at 3421 S. 263rd St., officers found 660 marijuana plants, packaged marijuana, and a Ruger .22 caliber firearm that had been reported stolen.
• Dung Duong, 31, of Kent, was sentenced to 18 months in prison and three years of supervised release for manufacturing marijuana. At his home at 3611 S. 294th St., officers found 341 plants and 539 clones of marijuana plants as well as packaging material and more than $11,000 in cash.
• Rank Vuu, 48, of Kent, was sentenced to 18 months in prison and three years of supervised release for manufacturing marijuana. At his home at 10126 S.E. 248th St., officers found 404 marijuana plants and processed marijuana. The home and a guest house on the property behind the home were used solely for the manufacture of marijuana.
• Bao V. Duong, 54, of Federal Way, was sentenced to 42 months in prison and four years of supervised release for manufacturing marijuana. At his home at 29914 26th Avenue S., officers discovered 850 plants in two bedrooms and the basement. When the home was searched, officers discovered an unloaded AK-47 assault rifle.
• Oi Van Ngo, 41, of Des Moines, was sentenced to 18 months in prison and three years of supervised release for manufacturing marijuana. At his home at 1614 S. 258th Street, officers seized 305 marijuana plants and manufacturing and processing equipment. Ngo told officers he was being paid $5,000 per month to tend the plants.
During the raids last September, law enforcement officials seized 4,578 marijuana plants with an estimated street value of $5 million, three weapons, 20 vehicles and an estimated $50,000 in cash, according to a media release from the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration.
The raids were part of what federal agents call, “Operation Green Reaper,” aimed at trying to control indoor marijuana growing operations in the Puget Sound area.
The drug task force included officers from the DEA, Kent, Auburn, Tukwila, Renton, Federal Way and the Port of Seattle.
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