Large-Scale Crack Cocaine Distributor Sentenced To 15 ½ Years In Federal Prison

Portland, Ore. - United States Attorney Karin J. Immergut announced today that Kyllo Penn, age 36, of Portland, Oregon, was sentenced by United States District Court Judge Anna J. Brown to 188 months in federal prison for one count of conspiracy to distribute and possess with the intent to distribute crack cocaine and one count of wire fraud. Upon release from prison the defendant will serve a minimum of five years of supervised release.

In July 2004, the Portland Police Bureau’s (PPB) Drugs and Vice Division, working in conjunction with the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), began investigating Kyllo Penn, who they identified as a large-scale distributor of crack cocaine operating in the Portland, Oregon metropolitan area. The investigation revealed that Kyllo Penn was purchasing kilogram quantities of powder cocaine, converting it into crack cocaine, and selling it to various drug dealers in the area.

On July 31, 2007, the defendant was indicted in federal court on a series of federal drug offenses and wire fraud. On November 5, 2007, the defendant entered a guilty plea to one count of conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute 50 grams or more of crack cocaine and one count of wire fraud. The wire fraud related to a scheme the defendant participated in to induce a mortgage lending corporation to fund a residential loan in the amount of $341,998.33. In order to obtain the money the defendant materially misrepresented information about his ownership of certain property and his monthly income. Eight additional associates have also been arrested and prosecuted in connection with this case.

In imposing the 188 month sentence on Mr. Penn, Judge Brown noted:

"A sentence of 15-plus years is a significant punishment. He will spend the rest of his young adulthood -- if you can still characterize him as young -- and into middle age, and beyond, in the custody of the Bureau of Prisons. He is going to be away from his family. He's going to be away from the community. And at some level, that's a good thing, given what he brought on to this community and all of the pedaling of poison that his criminal conduct facilitated. . . . His conduct was extraordinarily serious. It undoubtedly caused harm throughout our community and it facilitated addiction behaviors at their very worst level."

The case was primarily investigated by the PPB Drugs and Vice Division, DEA, the FBI, with assistance from the Regional Organized Crime and Narcotics Task Force, the Clark-Skamania Drug Task Force, and Multnomah County Special Investigations Unit. The case was prosecuted by the Chief of the Criminal Division, Assistant United States Attorney Pamala R. Holsinger and Assistant United States Attorney Scott Kerin. Further inquiries can be directed to Pamala R. Holsinger at (503) 727-l000.

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