Pubdate: Sat, 28 Jul 2001
Source: Los Angeles Times (CA)
Copyright: 2001 Los Angeles Times
Contact:  http://www.latimes.com/
Details: http://www.mapinc.org/media/248
Author: David Rosenzweig, Times Staff Writer
Bookmark: http://www.mapinc.org/mdma.htm (Ecstasy)

ECSTASY TRAFFICKER FACES PRISON TERM OF 12 TO 16 YEARS

Crime: Restaurateur Will Be Among First To Be Sentenced Under 
Stricter New Federal Rules.

A San Gabriel restaurateur on Friday became one of the first 
defendants in the nation to be convicted under new federal guidelines 
that more than double the prison time for trafficking in the illicit 
drug Ecstasy.

A federal court jury deliberated three hours before convicting David 
Chi Ping Leung, 42, on a charge of possession with intent to sell 
28,464 Ecstasy tablets valued at more than $560,000.

U.S. District Judge Audrey B. Collins set sentencing for Oct. 15. 
Reacting to the rising popularity of Ecstasy among America's youth, 
the U.S. Sentencing Commission earlier this year ordered the new 
guidelines to take effect May 1.

Under those guidelines, Leung, a first-time offender, faces about 12 
to 16 years in prison. Under the previous guidelines, he would have 
faced about five to six years behind bars.

Ecstasy, whose chemical name is methylenedioxymethylamphetamine, 
gives users a sense of euphoria and an increased desire to interact 
socially. A user's blood pressure, heart rate and body temperature 
increase dramatically.

While Ecstasy was once used primarily by young people at nightclubs 
and dance parties known as "raves," it is now being sold wherever 
teenagers gather, including school campuses and shopping malls, 
according to police and drug treatment officials.

Leung was arrested May 14 by agents from the Drug Enforcement 
Administration and the Customs Service when he retrieved a package 
containing the Ecstasy pills from an auto repair shop down the block 
from his restaurant.

Assistant U.S. Atty. Daniel D. Rubinstein, who prosecuted the case, 
said Leung had arranged for the shop owner, a friend, to accept the 
package when it arrived from Belgium.

The package contained a BMW gearbox, into which the pills were 
stuffed. The shop owner was not charged.

Leung took the stand in own defense during the trial and denied 
knowing that the gearbox contained Ecstasy. He testified that another 
friend of his, who could not be located, had asked him to import the 
gearbox as a favor.

The defendant also denied having told investigators that he regularly 
bought Ecstasy for his girlfriend who used the drug on a daily basis.

"Unfortunately for us, the jury was not persuaded," defense lawyer 
Carl Osborne said after the verdict.

Leung, who managed one of several fish restaurants owned by his 
family, is being held at the federal Metropolitan Detention Center in 
lieu of $500,000 bond.

Another Los Angeles federal court jury is currently hearing testimony 
in a second Ecstasy case under the new guidelines. Gilad Gadasi, a 
26-year-old Woodland Hills man, was arrested May 6 and charged with 
conspiracy to distribute more than 118,000 Ecstasy tablets. His case 
is expected to go to the jury next week.
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