Pubdate: Mon, 13 Dec 1999
Source: Milwaukee Journal Sentinel (WI)
Copyright: 1999, Milwaukee Journal Sentinel.
Contact:  414-224-8280
Website: http://www.jsonline.com/
Forum: http://www.jsonline.com/cgi-bin/ubb/ultimate.cgi
Author: Lisa Sink, of the Journal Sentinel staff

RAVE PARTY FAN GETS 60 DAYS FOR DRUG TRADING

Man Says He'd Sample Drugs To 'Cut Loose' After His Suit-And-Tie Job

Waukesha - What began as a monthly escape from his work routine soon
became a weekly trip to Chicago to attend rave parties flowing with
dangerous drugs such as methamphetamine, speed, Ketamine, Ecstasy, GHB
and nitrous oxide.

That excitement has ended for Mino Choi, a college graduate who got
caught up in the all-night frolics. He was sentenced Friday in
Waukesha County Circuit Court to two months in jail for his
experimentation.

"I was wearing a suit and tie for 55 hours a week and then I'd go to a
rave party, cut loose and have a good time," Choi, 24, was quoted in
court documents as telling a sentencing consultant.

Drugs were rampant and easily accessible at raves in Chicago, where
Choi said he traded drugs not for money but to try other ones.

"You can find anything at a rave party," Choi was quoted in the
report. "All you have to do is ask and people would point you in the
right direction. I never sold drugs for money. We'd use together or
trade. If you had something, you'd share it.

"I'd compare it kind of like to the Woodstock era," Choi was quoted.
One time, he said, someone even offered him Viagra, the sexual
performance pill.

Choi was not busted at a party but at work in Waukesha after someone
called police to report suspicious activity. Choi was seen handing a
duffel bag to another person in a business parking lot, according to a
criminal complaint.

In Choi's car were four containers of marijuana, two containers of
crystal methamphetamine, 11.26 grams of Ketamine and several pills of
Ecstasy, authorities said. Two cell phones, two pagers and plastic
sandwich bags were in the car.

Choi allegedly told Waukesha police that "he was a kind of person that
people could contact for types of drugs like this but that he was not
a big-time dealer," according to the complaint.

For Choi's family, his arrest on Nov. 23, 1998, was a humiliating
blow. Choi's parents, Korean immigrants, had achieved college degrees
and worked hard to provide a good life for their three children, court
reports indicated.

Choi's father, Mathias Choi, has owned and operated a Golden Chicken
Restaurant for more than 25 years. His mother, Hi-Ja Lee Choi, had won
awards as a fashion designer.

Choi lived his entire life in Greenfield until leaving home to attend
St. Norbert's College in De Pere after graduating from Marquette
University High School. He was a good son. He had above-average grades
and had played violin from age 7. He wrestled in high school and
participated on the debate team and in forensics.

With a college friend, he began a new fraternity that still exists at
St. Norbert's, Tau Omega Phi. He gave speeches on cultural diversity
to freshman classes and served on a dean's search committee, according
to court documents.

However, his fraternity brothers were concerned about his increasing
drug use, the reports indicated. Choi started drinking on weekends in
high school and drank a great deal more in college.

"It seemed just the culture of Green Bay that everybody would be
drinking," Choi told a sentencing consultant.

But his alcohol abuse decreased as he began to use other drugs at
raves. His first rave party was in Toronto while visiting a friend. He
tried Ecstasy for the first time. "It was total euphoria. It seemed
like such an invigorating experience," he said.

He later attended parties in Chicago. Reports did not indicate whether
any parties were in Milwaukee, Waukesha or Green Bay.

Choi said that Ketamine was an animal tranquilizer in its liquid form.
The drug would be snorted after the liquid was evaporated, he said.

He said he started seeking better grades of marijuana and used
methamphetamine to stay awake for the all-night parties.

"I would snort a little bit to stay awake but I wouldn't be out of
control," he said. But he conceded that methamphetamine was "kind of
scary. It causes stress. The body has a hard time getting rid of it,"
he said.

Choi's attorney, Patrick Knight, told a judge during Choi's sentencing
hearing that Choi was in denial of his drug addiction for months after
his arrest.

He relapsed three months after his arrest and voluntarily entered an
inpatient treatment facility where he successfully completed a 90-day
program. He now has embraced his after-care treatment and is deeply
ashamed of the humiliation he caused his family, Knight told Circuit
Judge J. Mac Davis.

"This is my responsibility. No one else is responsible," Choi said in
court. "I do feel great remorse for my negligent behavior and my
disregard of the law."

Davis called Choi a "recreational trader, not a business operator." He
cited his lack of a record and treatment success in imposing four
years of probation instead of prison. Choi could have been imprisoned
for up to six years.

Davis stayed a 30-month prison term and imposed 60 days in the
county's work-release jail as a condition of probation, starting Jan.
2.

"I hope you stay sober," Davis said, warning that if he didn't, prison
would be the penalty.

Choi said he would not look back. "I have dedicated myself to
treatment and a chance to better my life," he said.
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