FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE	CONTACT: Lauren Horwood
March 2, 2012	PHONE: (916) 554-2706
www.usdoj.gov/usao/cae	usacae.edcapress@usdoj.gov
Docket #: 1:11-cr-052-MCE

FRESNO, Calif. — United States Attorney Benjamin B. Wagner announced that today, after a three-day jury trial, Bounsou Vorasane, 51, and Kay Viengkham, 54, both of Fresno, were found guilty of conspiring to cultivate, distribute, and possesses with the intent to distribute marijuana, and possession of marijuana with the intent to distribute. Vorasane was additionally found guilty of cultivation of marijuana. Both defendants are now in custody as a result of the jury’s guilty verdicts.

According to court records, authorities followed a vehicle loaded with hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of marijuana from Fresno to Texas where the drugs were intended for distribution. The vehicle left from a Fresno residence that had been converted to a marijuana grow house with hundreds of plants at different stages of growth in different rooms. Vorasane was responsible for cultivating and packaging the marijuana at the Fresno grow house, while Viengkham was responsible for driving it to Texas.

Vorasane and Viengkham are scheduled to be sentenced by United States District Judge Morrison C. England Jr. on May 18, 2012. They each face a mandatory minimum prison term of five years in prison and a maximum term of 40 years in prison, and a $5 million fine. The actual sentence, however, will be determined at the discretion of the court after consideration of any applicable statutory factors and the Federal Sentencing Guidelines, which take into account a number of variables.

Co-defendants Lorena Duane pleaded guilty on July 28, 2011 and is scheduled to be sentenced on March 12, 2012 before U.S. District Judge Lawrence J. O’Neill. Charges are pending against Timothy Duane.

The case is the product of an investigation by the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, the Fresno Sheriff’s Department, and the Texas Department of Public Safety. Assistant United States Attorneys Yasin Mohammad, Elana Landau, and Kathy Servatius are prosecuting this case.

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