FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE	CONTACT: Lauren Horwood
October 6, 2011	PHONE: (916) 554-2706
www.usdoj.gov/usao/cae	usacae.edcapress@usdoj.gov
Docket #: 2:09-cr-0125 FCD

SACRAMENTO, Calif. — United States Attorney Benjamin B. Wagner announced that Sartaj Chahal, 41, of Tracy, was sentenced today by United States District Judge Frank C. Damrell Jr. to 30 years in prison for drug trafficking. A federal jury convicted Chahal of two drug trafficking charges after a nine-day jury trial in 2010.

This case is the product of an extensive investigation by the Sacramento District Office of the Drug Enforcement Administration, the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement's (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations, the Elk Grove Police Department, and the San Joaquin County Metropolitan Narcotics Task Force. Assistant United States Attorneys Jason Hitt and Michael D. Anderson prosecuted the case.

According to court documents, during 2008, Chahal was responsible for importing and transporting 500,000 MDMA (popularly known as Ecstasy) pills from Canada and arranging for their distribution throughout the Sacramento and Los Angeles regions. He also transported 98 kilograms of cocaine to Canada.

At sentencing, Judge Damrell called Chahal's conduct "very serious" because of the "massive quantities" of drugs involved in the case and the countless lives that were ruined by the drugs Chahal distributed into California communities. Judge Damrell also considered that when Chahal committed his crimes, he was living in the United States illegally after committing asylum fraud to obtain entry to the United States. The judge noted that Chahal will very likely be deported to Punjab, India, when he finishes serving his lengthy prison sentence.

This case was the result of the work of the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force (OCDETF), a program established in 1982 to conduct comprehensive, multilevel attacks on major drug trafficking and money laundering organizations. The principal mission of the OCDETF program is to identify, disrupt, and dismantle the most serious drug trafficking and money laundering organizations and those primarily responsible for the nation's drug supply.

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