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A 29-year-old Hilo woman pleaded guilty Thursday to federal charges that she shipped methamphetamine and fentanyl from Mexico through California to a market in Hawaii.
Mickey M. Matsuyama, released on $50,000 unsecured bond, will be sentenced March 23 by U.S. District Judge Leslie Kobayashi on one count of attempted possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine and fentanyl.
“Ms. Matsuyama understands the seriousness of her actions and accepts responsibility for this crime,” said Assistant Federal Defender Jacqueline T. Esser, Matsuyama’s attorney. “She is using this time to work on her rehabilitation and make amends to her community and family. “
Under the plea agreement signed Thursday, Matsuyama faces a minimum sentence of 10 years to life in federal prison, up to $10 million in fines and five years to life in federal prison.
Matsuyama has strong family ties in Hawaii and “admits to a history of substance abuse and mental health and has indicated a willingness to seek treatment for both and has been referred to the Sand Island Treatment Center (SITC). He has a relatively minor criminal history, no recent offenses, and no does not include weapons charges or crimes of violence,” Esser’s motion to vacate his detention order states.
According to court documents, Matsuyama’s criminal history includes charges of shoplifting in 2013, contempt of court in 2015 and second-degree theft in 2019.
In a letter opposing Matsuyama’s release, Assistant U.S. Attorney Darren Ching wrote that his family ties “did not prevent him from distributing a pound of methamphetamine while on state felony probation and pretrial release.”
He also noted that Matsuyama’s mother does not want to be a third-party guardian for her daughter and believes she should not be released to the public.
A search of Matsuyama and her boyfriend, 33-year-old Hilo Elias Peace, turned up 1.377 grams of methamphetamine and 110 grams of blue fentanyl pills.
“The defendant obtained or intended to obtain at least seven pounds of methamphetamine. Her boyfriend told law enforcement that the Defendant was distributing drugs and that he was involved in some of these operations,” Ching wrote. “Her boyfriend also said he was expecting two pounds of methamphetamine and 1,000 fentanyl pills from the package the defendant picked up on August 8th.”
Kobayashi granted Esser’s request and was released to complete a residential program at Matsuyama Sand Island Treatment Center. On Monday, he accepted a plea deal and pleaded guilty to one count of attempted possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine and fentanyl.
Matsuyama turned himself in on Aug. 12 and told Hawaii County police that he had received at least four shipments of methamphetamine and fentanyl weighing a total of 5 pounds, and that the supplier was a Mexican man named “Jay,” who he had instructed to pay for the drugs. By transferring $1,000 or $2,000 to him in Mexico, according to court documents.
He told Peace that the box contained “several pounds of methamphetamine and 1,000 pills of fentanyl.”
The investigation that led to the arrests of Matsuyama and Peace was a joint effort by the Hawaii Police Department’s Regional I Division, Hawaii County District Attorneys and the US Department of Homeland Security Investigations.
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