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The Honolulu Advertiser
Posted on: Wednesday, April 29, 2009

Cocaine trafficker will serve 126-month prison sentence

A Washington state man has been sentenced to federal prison for cocaine trafficking on the Big Island, Hawai'i County police said yesterday.

U.S. District Judge David Ezra on April 21 sentenced 27-year-old Tyler Carpenter of Longview, Wash., to 126 months in federal prison and 60 months of probation.

Carpenter was convicted of cocaine possession and conspiring to distribute more than 5 kilograms of the drug.

Police said the case originated during a marijuana eradication raid on May 31, 2005, when officers served a state search warrant at the Fern Acres home of Matthew Browne and Blake McMillen. There, police discovered an indoor marijuana growing operation. They also recovered $14,300 in cash and about 4 kilograms of cocaine with a street value of more than $200,000.

Hawaii County detectives linked the case to Washington state and worked with the Drug Enforcement Administration in Hilo and the U.S. Attorney's Office in Honolulu, which prosecuted the case in federal court.