Madison, Wis. - John W. Vaudreuil, United States Attorney for the Western District of Wisconsin, announced that Joseph Ramsey, 21, Madison, Wis., was sentenced today by U.S. District Judge William Conley to three years of probation for conspiring with others to distribute marijuana in the Madison area. Ramsey pleaded guilty to this charge on October 26, 2015.
Ramsey and six other codefendants, all college students, arranged the purchase, transportation and distribution of as many as 19 loads of marijuana, ranging in quantity from five to 50 pounds, from California and Colorado to Madison from September 2012 to February 2015. Drivers were sent to the West Coast with tens of thousands of dollars to make contact with a supplier, and return with up to 50 pounds of marijuana at a time. The marijuana loads were then divided among the “investors” who had provided money for the purchase of the supply. These investors then sold the marijuana in Madison for a substantial profit.
Two fellow conspirators, Haris Riza, 22, and Parvis Samadzada, 22, both of Madison, were previously sentenced each to one year and one day in federal prison. The other four defendants , Enis Gashi, 21; Amadou Camara, 23; Kevin Ha, 23; and Yotam Israeli, 22, have entered guilty pleas and are scheduled to be sentenced over the next month.
The charges against Joseph Ramsey and the other co-defendants were the result of an investigation conducted by the Drug Enforcement Administration; Wisconsin Department of Justice, Division of Criminal Investigation; and Dane County Narcotics Task Force. The prosecution of these cases have been handled by Assistant U.S. Attorney Robert A. Anderson.