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Gulfport, Miss. – Today, a federal jury in Gulfport found Frederick Arayatanon, 35, of Westminister, California, guilty of conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute 500 grams or more of methamphetamine, following a three-day trial before U.S. District Judge Louis Guirola Jr., announced United States Attorney Mike Hurst and Assistant Special Agent in Charge Derryle Smith with the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA). “I applaud the outstanding work of these prosecutors, agents and officers, as another major drug dealer and network have been taken down and dismantled, and countless lives have been saved. While meth continues to be a scourge in Mississippi that is killing our communities, this office and our law enforcement partners will not rest as we continue the fight against this deadly epidemic sweeping our country,” said U.S. Attorney Hurst. During the course of a drug investigation that began in 2017, DEA agents discovered that Arayatanon was shipping large quantities of methamphetamine from California to Tuyen Ngoc Le in Biloxi, Mississippi. Once Le received the methamphetamine shipments, she would give them to Demetrius Mason for distribution in the Ocean Springs area. Le pled guilty on October 16, 2018 for her role in the drug conspiracy and will be sentenced on January 15, 2019 at 10:00 a.m. Mason pled guilty for his role and was sentenced by Judge Guirola on May 31, 2018 to 292 months in federal prison. Arayatanon will be sentenced on January 31, 2019 at 10:00 a.m. by Judge Guirola, and faces a maximum penalty of life in prison and a $10,000,000 fine. The case was investigated by the Drug Enforcement Administration. It was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Shundral H. Cole and Assistant United States Attorney Kathlyn Van Buskirk.
