La Crosse Woman Sentenced to 5 Years for Methamphetamine Trafficking
MADISON, WIS. – Timothy M. O’Shea, United States Attorney for the Western District of Wisconsin, announced that Kojoua Vu, 33, La Crosse, Wisconsin was sentenced today by U.S. District Judge William M. Conley to 5 years in federal prison for possessing 50 grams or more of methamphetamine with the intent to distribute. The prison term will be followed by 5 years of supervised release. Vu pleaded guilty to this charge on January 26, 2023.
On August 18, 2021, Vu sold an ounce, or approximately 28 grams, of methamphetamine to a confidential informant in La Crosse.
On October 28, 2021, law enforcement officers pulled over Vu’s car in La Crosse. She had a bag containing 30 grams of methamphetamine in her coat pocket, and a bag containing 195 grams of methamphetamine was found under the driver’s seat of the car. Vu admitted to possessing the methamphetamine and when officers told her that they had completed a controlled buy on her, she asked, “Was it three days ago?” This response led the officers to believe that Vu was still regularly selling methamphetamine.
Officers also executed a search warrant at the residence in Onalaska, Wisconsin where Vu was believed to be living with her boyfriend. Additional methamphetamine, a large quantity of cash, and drug trafficking paraphernalia were found at the residence.
At the time of these events, Vu was on state supervision for a prior felony state methamphetamine trafficking conviction and out on bond for an open felony state case that alleged maintaining a drug trafficking home and possessing methamphetamine. Vu’s supervision was revoked in August of 2022, and she was ordered to serve 2 years, 3 months, and 29 days in state prison. Judge Conley ordered that Vu’s federal sentence run concurrently with the remainder of her state sentence.
At sentencing, Judge Conley highlighted that Vu was already on state supervision for methamphetamine trafficking at the time she engaged in the conduct charged in this federal case.
The charge against Vu was the result of an investigation conducted by the La Crosse, Onalaska, and Campbell Police Departments and the Wisconsin Department of Justice Division of Criminal Investigation. The La Crosse County District Attorney’s Office also provided assistance in the case. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Steven P. Anderson and Aaron D. Wegner prosecuted this case.