Las Vegas Meth Dealer Convicted by Federal Jury
Las Vegas, Nev. – A man who was selling methamphetamine in Las Vegas from rented vehicles has been convicted by a federal jury of drug and firearm offenses, announced Daniel G. Bogden, United States Attorney for the District of Nevada.
Following a two-day trial, Michael Paul Palumbo, 38, of Las Vegas, was convicted on Tuesday, May 4, 2010, of possession with the intent to distribute methamphetamine and possessing a firearm in connection with a drug trafficking crime. On April 7, 2010, Palumbo was also convicted following trial of felon in possession of a firearm. He is scheduled to be sentenced by U.S. District Judge Roger L. Hunt on July 9, 2010, at 10:00 a.m., and faces 15 years minimum in prison and fines of up to $750,000.
In December 2008, Las Vegas Metropolitan Police Department (Metro) detectives received information that a male individual, later identified as Palumbo, was selling methamphetamine from rental vehicles in Las Vegas. They made arrangements for a female undercover detective to meet Palumbo to purchase 1/16th of an ounce of methamphetamine near a gas station at the corner of Rancho Road and Cheyenne Boulevard. Prior to the meeting, detectives conducted surveillance at the gas station, and observed Palumbo make what appeared to be several drug sales. After Palumbo failed to follow through with the sale to the undercover detective because he had not previously sold drugs to her, detectives arrested him as he was getting into a truck, after they observed a firearm protruding from his pants pocket. A records check revealed that Palumbo was a multiple-time felon prohibited from carrying a firearm, and that the truck was rented. Detectives recovered from the truck, ecstasy and Viagra, 30 grams of methamphetamine, $5,689 in U.S. currency, and a digital scale. The methamphetamine was later tested and was determined to be 91 percent pure. Palumbo has prior felony convictions in Clark County, Nevada, for burglary, drug trafficking, attempted theft, identity theft, and possession of a stolen vehicle.
The investigation was conducted by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and Metro. The case was screened by the Southern Nevada Project Safe Neighborhoods Task Force and is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Drew Smith and Nadia Ahmed.
