Alexandria Man Pleads Guilty In Meth Distribution Case

ALEXANDRIA, VA — An Alexandria man pleaded guilty in federal court Tuesday for his role in the distribution of methamphetamine on darknet markets.

Court documents say Dat Nguyen, 35, conspired to distribute peach tablets advertised as Adderall but contained methamphetamine. The distribution happened nationwide through U.S. mail. Nguyen used the moniker "addy4cheap" on darknet markets, the Empire Market and Cryptonia. Law enforcement agents conducted 20 controlled purchases from "addy4cheap" between August 2019 and December 2019. That led to the agents receiving 767 peach tablets weighing approximately 268 grams.

As of Dec. 10, 2019, "addy4cheap" had completed 3,665 sales on the Empire Market and received 2,568 reviews. Based on the reviews, "addy4cheap" had received around $482,572.10 in sales from around 44,872 pills sold. As of Nov. 7, 2019, “addy4cheap” had fulfilled 140 transactions on Cryptonia.

Nguyen’s five co-conspirators previously pleaded guilty in the case, and one other co-conspirator remains a fugitive. On Dec. 9, 2019, search warrants were executed at Nguyen’s co-conspirators’ residences including the home of Lien Kim Thi Phan and Tyler Pham as well as the home of Hon Lam Luk. In the home of Phan and Pham, agents found 95 peach tablets. In Luk’s residence, agents found over 6,000 peach tablets weighing approximately 2.2 kilograms, all of which resembled ones advertised on "addy4cheap" and received by law enforcement through the controlled purchases.

Nguyen faces a mandatory minimum penalty of 10 years in prison. Sentencing is scheduled for March 23, 2021.