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Press Release

Minnesota Man Sentenced for Delivering Methamphetamine to Wausau

For Immediate Release
U.S. Attorney's Office, Western District of Wisconsin

Madison, Wis. – Scott C. Blader, United States Attorney for the Western District of Wisconsin, announced that Dao Thao, 40, Saint Paul, Minnesota, was sentenced on July 17 by Chief U.S. District Judge James D. Peterson to five years in federal prison for distributing methamphetamine.  Thao pleaded guilty to this charge on March 2, 2020.

Thao possessed methamphetamine with intent to deliver to a local drug trafficker in Wausau, Wisconsin on June 19, 2019.  On that date Thao possessed over 114 grams of almost pure methamphetamine.  Telephone records confirmed that Thao delivered at least the same amount on one other occasion in the weeks leading up to his arrest.  Telephone records also confirmed that Thao had been distributing various drugs for the year prior to his arrest in this case.

While records indicate Thao had been engaging in this behavior for at least a year, Judge Peterson considered Thao’s limited criminal history in arriving at an appropriate sentence.

The charge against Dao Thao was the result of an investigation conducted by the Federal Bureau of Investigation; Central Wisconsin Narcotics Task Force; Marathon County Sheriff’s Office; Wisconsin Department of Justice Division of Criminal Investigation; Wausau Police Department; Lincoln County Sheriff’s Office; National Guard Counterdrug Program; Wisconsin State Patrol; and Everest Metro Police Department.  The prosecution of the case has been handled by Assistant U.S. Attorney Diane Schlipper. 

Updated July 20, 2020

Topic
Drug Trafficking