ALICIA A.G. LIMTIACO, United States Attorney for the Districts of Guam and the Northern Mariana Islands (NMI),announced that on August 8, 2016, Defendant JAYVIN WYLL UEDA REMOKET was sentenced by the Honorable Frances Tydingco-Gatewood, Chief Judge, District Court of Guam. Defendant was sentenced to serve 14 years incarceration, to run concurrent to five years incarceration, followed by three years of supervised release.
Defendant REMOKET pled guilty on May 15, 2014 to Conspiracy to Distribute Methamphetamine, in violation of Title 21 U.S.C. Sections 846(a)(1) and (b)(1)(C) and to Giving Notice of a Search Warrant, in violation of 18 U.S.C. Section 2232(c). Defendant REMOKET was a Guam Customs and Quarantine Officer assigned to the Contraband Enforcement Team at the time of the offenses. He conspired with co-defendants Amos Ueda and Frederick Obak to receive and distribute a package containing 984.3 grams of methamphetamine hydrochloride at a business establishment in Guam, namely Staywell Insurance in Hagatna, Guam. The contents of the package were to be broken down for later distribution on Guam. The methamphetamine hydrochloride was concealed within a U.S. Priority Mail package and sent from Washington State to Guam where it was intercepted by the U.S. Postal Inspector. The Drug Enforcement Administration Forensic Laboratory determined that the methamphetamine had a high purity level of 82.2%. The street value of 984.3 grams of methamphetamine hydrochloride exceeds $492,150.00.
The investigation was conducted by the Guam U.S. Postal Inspector and Drug Enforcement Administration Special Agents as well as Task Force Officers who determined that REMOKET, using his position of authority, attempted to protect the conspiracy by giving notice to his co-defendants of the interception of the package.
U.S. Attorney Limtiaco stated, "The defendant, at the time of the crimes, was a Guam Customs and Quarantine Officer assigned to the Contraband Enforcement Team. He abused and violated the public's trust by using and exploiting his official position to commit the crimes and gain information to impede the investigation in this case. It is not uncommon for methamphetamine hydrochloride possession and distribution to be associated with violent and other criminal activity. The drug has destructive and devastating effects on individuals, families and our community. The U.S. Attorney’s Office is committed to the aggressive prosecution of those offenders who traffic drugs and abuse their positions of authority to commit criminal activity."
This conviction resulted from the concerted efforts of law enforcement partners in an Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force (OCDETF) investigation. OCDETF is a focused multi-agency, multi-jurisdictional task force investigating and prosecuting the most significant drug trafficking organizations throughout the United States by leveraging the combined expertise of federal, state and local law enforcement agencies.
The investigating agencies include the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), U.S. Department of Homeland Security/U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement (ICE) - Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), U.S. Postal Inspection Service (USPIS), and the Guam Police Department (GPD). The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Rosetta San Nicolas.