A jury convicted Sartaj Chahal, 41, of two drug trafficking charges after a nine-day trial. He was sentenced to 30 years in US federal prison.
SACRAMENTO – An Indo-American man from Tracy, California was sentenced Thursday to 30 years in federal prison for trafficking ecstasy pills and cocaine from Canada, the U.S. attorney’s office reported.
A jury convicted Sartaj Chahal, 41, of two drug trafficking charges after a nine-day trial.
During 2008, Chahal trafficked 500,000 ecstasy pills from Canada and arranging their distribution in Sacramento and Los Angeles, according to federal prosecutors. Chahal also transported 98 kilograms of cocaine to Canada, prosecutors said.
According to court documents, during 2008, Chahal was responsible for importing and transporting 500,000 MDMA (popularly known as Ecstasy) pills from Vancouver, 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.
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