{"id":385391,"date":"2023-02-15T06:06:00","date_gmt":"2023-02-14T20:06:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/?p=385391"},"modified":"2023-02-15T06:06:00","modified_gmt":"2023-02-14T20:06:00","slug":"180-month-prison-term-for-meth-trafficking-firearms-violation","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/180-month-prison-term-for-meth-trafficking-firearms-violation\/","title":{"rendered":"180-month prison term for meth trafficking, firearms violation"},"content":{"rendered":"

HAGATN\u0303A, Guam<\/strong>\u2014A 23-year-old man from Mangilao, Guam, was sentenced to 180 months in prison after being convicted of drug trafficking conspiracy and using and carrying a firearm during a drug trafficking crime.<\/p>\n

Timothy Jerome Concepcion was sentenced on Feb. 6, 2023, in the District Court of Guam, according to a U.S. Attorney\u2019s Office news release.<\/p>\n

Federal law requires that the five-year mandatory term for the firearm charge must be served after the 10-year mandatory term for the drug charge. The court also ordered five years supervised release and a mandatory $200 special assessment fee. In addition, defendants convicted of a federal drug offense may no longer qualify for certain federal benefits.<\/p>\n

According to the USAO news release, an officer with the Guam Police Department stopped Concepcion for speeding in Asan, Guam, on April 4, 2022. Concepcion was with two passengers, an adult woman and a 14-year-old minor. When Concepcion exited the car, the officer saw a .357 caliber revolver in the driver\u2019s side door panel. A .380 caliber pistol was also found between the passenger seat and the center console. Further search revealed 14 clear baggies containing 390.8 grams of methamphetamine, an electronic scale, and a glass pipe. Concepcion stated, \u201cthe dope is mine, but I don\u2019t know about the guns.\u201d Concepcion also told the officer that, \u201cIt\u2019s not her dope. It\u2019s mine. I use it.\u201d He also possessed $2,565 in cash. One firearm was loaded and had an obliterated serial number.<\/p>\n

Additional investigation revealed that from March 29, 2022, through April 4, 2022, Concepcion sold methamphetamine out of a room at the Dusit Thani Guam Resort. A co-conspirator collected money from the drug sales for Concepcion. Buyers also smoked drugs in the hotel room, oftentimes with<\/p>\n

Concepcion. Throughout this activity, Concepcion carried the firearms for his protection, and informed others of their purpose.<\/p>\n

\u201cConception armed himself to facilitate his illegal drug trafficking,\u201d stated Shawn N. Anderson, U.S. Attorney for the Districts of Guam and the Northern Mariana Islands. \u201cUnfortunately, this is not an uncommon occurrence. Combating violent crime, particularly that associated with drugs, is a high priority for the Department of Justice. The enhanced sentence in this matter demonstrates the consequences awaiting those who engage in this activity.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cAs shown by the facts in this case, people who distribute methamphetamine tend to be armed and ruthless,\u201d said John F. Tobon, special agent in charge, HSI Honolulu. \u201cHIS, along with our law enforcement partners and the U.S. Attorney Office, will continue to investigate and present for prosecution people who flood our communities with this dangerous poison and sell this highly addictive drug.\u201d<\/p>\n

\u201cThe use of firearms by a drug trafficker makes a dangerous situation even worse,\u201d said ATF Seattle special agent in charge Jonathan T. McPherson. \u201cHopefully this sentence sends a message to would-be drug dealers that this behavior will not be tolerated. We will continue to investigate the illegal use of firearms, especially when they are tied to the drug trade.\u201d<\/p>\n

This investigation was led by Homeland Security Investigations in collaboration with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, and the Guam Police Department. This case was prosecuted by Rosetta L. San Nicolas, Assistant U.S. Attorney in the District of Guam.<\/strong> (PR\/Saipan Tribune)<\/em><\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

HAGATN\u0303A, Guam\u2014A 23-year-old man from Mangilao, Guam, was sentenced to 180 months in prison after…<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":28,"featured_media":385394,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[4],"tags":[51],"class_list":["post-385391","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-local-news","tag-guam"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/385391","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/28"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=385391"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/385391\/revisions"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/385394"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=385391"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=385391"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/www.saipantribune.com\/index.php\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=385391"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}