A Canadian man who imported pseudoephedrine from Canada into the United States and Australia during 2011 and 2012 was sentenced today to 9 years in federal prison.
Joseph Damgajian, age 51, from Laval, Qubec, Canada, received the prison term after a May 25, 2022, guilty plea to one count of using the U.S. and Canadian Mail systems to distribute pseudoephedrine, one count of unlawfully importing pseudoephedrine into the United States, and one count of making false customs declarations to illegally import pseudoephedrine into the United States.
In a plea agreement, Damgajian admitted that during 2011 and 2012, he was selling pseudoephedrine using the Internet. A methamphetamine lab search in Iowa during July of 2011, identified Damgajian as a source for pseudoephedrine, a chemical used to manufacture methamphetamine. Damgajian sold over 4.2 kilograms (9.25 pounds) of pseudoephedrine through an online market. He hid in the pseudoephedrine in vitamin bottles that he resealed and produced false customs declarations in an effort to avoid the seizure of the substances by customs officials. Agents in the United States made undercover purchases of pseudoephedrine from Damgajian and coordinated with the Royal Canadian Mounted Police who seized additional packages of pseudoephedrine Damgajian was illegally sending from Canada to other countries including the United States and Australia.
Damgajian was sentenced in Cedar Rapids by United States District Court Judge C.J. Williams. Damgajian was sentenced to 108 months’ imprisonment. He must also serve a 3-year term of supervised release after the prison term. There is no parole in the federal system.
Damgajian is being held in the United States Marshal’s custody until he can be transported to a federal prison.
The case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Patrick J. Reinert and was investigated as part of the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force (OCDETF) program of the United States Department of Justice through a cooperative effort of the U.S. Department of Homeland Security Investigations, U.S. Postal Inspection Service, Royal Canadian Mounted Police, Canadian Postal Inspectors, Canadian Border Services Agency, Australian Customs and Border Protection Service, and the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) Task Force consisting of: the DEA; the Linn County Sheriff’s Office; the Cedar Rapids Police Department; the Marion Police Department; and the Iowa Division of Narcotics Enforcement.
Court file information at https://ecf.iand.uscourts.gov/cgi-bin/login.pl.
The case file number is 12-CR-2035.
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