Hilo Man Gets 20-Year Prison Sentence in Meth Case

A 34-year-old Hilo man was sentenced today in Honolulu to 20 years in federal prison for trafficking of methamphetamine.

Francis S.K. Ogata received the sentence from US District Court Judge Helen Gillmor for attempting to possess about 145 grams of the illicit drug with intent to distribute.

The sentence Ogata received was the minimum he could receive because he had been convicted in 2005 in a previous drug trafficking case.

According to the US Attorney Office in Honolulu, the case involved a package sent through the US Mail from Las Vegas to Hilo in February 2012.

Postal inspectors identified the parcel as suspicious and after obtaining a search warrant, found more than 145 grams of meth wrapped in saran wrap, carbon paper and a plastic container.

Law enforcement officials removed most of the drug, rewrapped the parcel and held it for pick up at the Hilo post office.

Postal inspectors observed Ogata pick up the parcel and drive away. Following a pursuit of more than an hour, he was arrested at his home.

Law enforcement officers found a portion of the contents of the parcel in the car that Ogata had been driving.

The case was part of a US Postal Service interdiction operation assisted by the Hawaii Police Department.

Ogata was convicted of attempting to possess more than 50 grams of meth with intent to distribute following a five-day trial in January.