MEDIA RELEASE

A Washington man was sentenced to federal prison last Tuesday (April 21) for his leadership role in a conspiracy to distribute cocaine on the island of Hawai’i.

U.S. District Judge Alan Ezra sentenced 27-year-old Tyler Carpenter of Longview, Washington, to 126 months in federal prison and 60 months of probation. Carpenter was convicted of cocaine possession and conspiring to distribute more than five kilograms of the drug.

The case originated during a marijuana eradication mission on May 31, 2005, when the Hawaii Police Department served a state search warrant at the Fern Acres home of Matthew Browne and Blake McMillen. There, police discovered an indoor marijuana growing operation. They also recovered $14,300 in cash and approximately four kilograms of cocaine with a street value of more than $200,000.

Detectives from the Hawai’i Police Department’s Vice Section linked the case to Washington state and worked with the Drug Enforcement Administration in Hilo and the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Honolulu, which prosecuted the case in federal court.

Four other persons were previously convicted of the same charges as Carpenter’s:

Browne, 31, was sentenced to 48 months in federal prison and 60 months of probation.

McMillen, 26, was sentenced to 33 months in federal prison and 48 months of probation.

Thirty-year-old Justin Williamson, of Longview, Washington, was sentenced to 42 months in federal prison and 60 months of probation.

Twenty-four-year-old Merete Rice of Honolulu was sentenced to three months in federal detention and 60 months of probation.