CHICAGO – A Filipino-American who was said to have distributed from Canada millions of dollars worth of ecstasy pills and marijuana in Chicago in the United States and Mexico was sentenced to 30 years in prison. Ivan Myint, 42, an American citizen, of Gurnee, Illinois, was also sentenced on Tuesday to five years of supervised release. Myint was also ordered to pay $10,000 to reimburse the government for the buy money that the government expended during the investigation. Randall Samborn, spokesman for the Chicago US Attorney’s office, said Myint was also given an “uncontested $1.5-million forfeiture order." Myint was said to be one of 21 people, including four other Filipinos, who were part of a group that sells marijuana and ecstasy pills also known as “MDMA" (methylene-dioxymethamphetamine). The other Filipino co-defendants in the case were:
Ivan Myint’s younger brother, Michael Myint, 37, of Chicago; Carlo Panadero alias “Chito" or “Ted," 40, a U.S. permanent resident, formerly of Des Plaines and believed to be in the Philippines; Carlo’s brother, Carlos Panadero, Jr., 31, formerly of Berwyn, Illinois, and Melvin Dumanlang, 29, of Chicago. Sentencing for Michael Myint is pending. Carlos Panadero and Melvin Dumanlang are both serving sentence in the Federal Prison Camp (FPC) in Duluth, Minnesota. Carlos, serving 48 months imprisonment, is due to be released on June 20, 2012, while Dumanlang, serving 46 months imprisonment, is due to be released on March 9, 2014. Fugitive Meanwhile, Carlos’ brother Carlo, remains a fugitive and is believed to be in the Philippines or elsewhere. Samborn said Carlo, who has been at large, has never faced the charges against him. Only one defendant – Li Xien Wu – had a trial by jury and was convicted and found guilty. He went to trial in April 2010 and was convicted and was sentenced to 97 months in prison. The rest of the defendants were convicted after pleading guilty and and gave up their right to have a trial. Four other defendants remain fugitives in the case: Ju Wen Zhou a.k.a. “Goi,", Kenneth Quoc Luong, Su Jung Chen alias “Tina" and Hanh Nguyen. All remaining defendants, 19 in all, pleaded guilty and either have been sentenced or are awaiting sentencing. No one was acquitted or found not guilty. - VVP, GMA News 
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