MADISON, WIS. – Timothy M. O’Shea, United States Attorney for the Western District of Wisconsin, announced that Pa Kou Yang, 33, Baraboo, Wisconsin was sentenced on November 17, 2022 by U.S. District Judge James D. Peterson to 60 months in prison for possession of methamphetamine with intent to distribute. Yang pleaded guilty to this charge on August 12, 2022.
As a part of a long-term investigation, law enforcement officers obtained evidence that Christopher Fernette, Carl Rabe, and Dillan Boydston distributed significant amounts of methamphetamine in western Wisconsin. Investigators also learned that Fernette purchased methamphetamine from multiple people, including a source-of-supply in Minnesota and an individual named Pa Yang.
On February 18, 2021, during a traffic stop by a Crawford County Sheriff’s deputy in Onalaska, Wisconsin, Yang admitted to possessing methamphetamine and turned over approximately 100 grams of methamphetamine.
At sentencing, Judge Peterson told Yang that she adopted a lifestyle of criminal conduct.
On June 29, 2022, Judge William M. Conley sentenced Fernette to 10 years in prison for possession of methamphetamine with intent to distribute. Judge Conley also ordered Fernette to forfeit $17,200.
On July 20, 2022, Judge Conley sentenced Rabe to 96 months in prison for possession of methamphetamine with intent to deliver.
On November 3, 2022, Judge Conley sentenced Boydston to 84 months in prison for conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine.
The charges against these defendants were the result of an investigation conducted by the Crawford County Sheriff’s Office, Prairie du Chien Police Department, Richland-Iowa-Grant Task Force, Dakota County (Minnesota) Drug Task Force, Iowa Division of Criminal Investigation, and the Wisconsin Department of Justice Division of Criminal Investigation. Assistant U.S. Attorney Chadwick M. Elgersma prosecuted the cases.