The 23-year-old Waikiki man sentenced to a decade in federal jail Thursday turned to drug dealing on the age of 15 to fund a each day behavior. This began the life that led to the deadly fentanyl overdose of an 18-year-old U.S. Marine in November 2021.
Justin Hiroki Wu was initially accused of creating quite a few unlawful drug gross sales to lively obligation army personnel stationed in Hawaii. The Marine who died Nov. 13, 2021, was Lance Cpl. Alexander Grafton, a Hawaii-based mostly Marine with the third Marine Division.
Grafton’s dying was one in all 48 fentanyl-related deaths in Hawaii in 2021, based on the Hawaii Excessive Depth Drug Trafficking Space.
That quantity rose to 79 in 2022 and 107 in 2023.
Grafton was found “deceased and badly decomposed” in his barracks room by a couple of of his associates and fellow Marines, based on federal court docket information.
When he offered the deadly dose to Grafton, Wu was on federal probation for a earlier drug conviction when he was 18 years outdated.
In that case, Wu was charged with promoting cocaine and defending his enterprise with a.40 caliber handgun. Wu additionally obtained caught making an attempt to sneak perjured testimony into the document to assist his case, based on the U.S. Legal professional’s workplace.
In a sentencing memorandum his legal professional, Doris Lum, instructed U.S. District Decide Decide Shanlyn A. S. Park’s court docket that Wu is the product of a single mom and a father who struggled with methamphetamine habit.
Wu was utilizing hashish or cocaine each day by the age of 15 and began advertising and marketing unlawful narcotics to feed his behavior.
Lum solid doubt on Wu being the supply of Grafton’s deadly overdose “given Justin’s personal phrases and the truth that he makes use of the very medicine he distributes to others.”
“In messages with a good friend, Justin talks about how silly it’s to chop medicine with fentanyl as a result of it kills folks. On this identical message thread, Justin admits chopping medicine, however with creatine exercise powder, not with fentanyl,” wrote Lum.
At 15, Wu would use the revenue from his drug dealing to purchase extra medicine to make use of and he dropped out of faculty.
“This vicious cycle didn’t finish after Justin was sentenced for his first drug cost,” wrote Lum. “Sure, Justin continued down a path of habit and its vicious cycle, even after being on federal probation. Nonetheless sturdy Justin’s habit was, it didn’t come on the expense of promoting fentanyl to others. Particularly since Justin was one in all his personal prospects.”
Assistant U.S. Legal professional Michael F. Albanese, in a sentencing memo to Park’s court docket, famous investigators discovered proof that Wu was promoting medicine two months after he was sentenced to dwelling detention and site monitoring in a Might 2021 case.
“Thus far, Wu has expressed no contrition, no regret, and no acknowledgement that his tablets induced—and even might have induced (Grafton’s ) dying. Till the second he entered a plea settlement, Wu was in search of methods to impede his legal trial by virtually tricking his personal legal professional into introducing perjured testimony,” wrote Albanese. “He has given this Court docket no purpose to imagine he needs rehabilitation; no purpose to imagine that, inside months of his launch from no matter sentence the Court docket imposes, he gained’t go proper again to promoting medicine in the neighborhood.”
Albanese and Jonathan D. Slack prosecuted the case.
Wu was first charged by legal grievance Jan. 13, 2023, with one depend of distribution of fentanyl leading to dying and one depend of possession with intent to distribute cocaine.
Wu entered right into a plea settlement with the U.S. Division of Justice on Feb. 4 to plead responsible to 2 counts associated to cocaine possession and promoting cocaine. Wu additionally agreed that he can be sentenced to between seven and 10 years in federal jail.
In accordance with the Jan. 13, 2023, legal grievance, investigators with the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration, Naval Legal Investigative Service and Honolulu Police Division allegedly discovered “quite a few messages with a number of people discussing drug transactions for cocaine, MDMA (ecstasy ), and oxycodone.”
“Various these people messaging Wu for drug transactions had been lively obligation army personnel,” based on the grievance.
Wu used Money App and Venmo to maneuver cash and that transactions labeled “meals ” had been truly drug gross sales.
Federal brokers performed “a number of interviews of army personnel who bought medicine from Wu,” together with not less than one individual expelled from the Marine Corps for testing optimistic for fentanyl.
On Sept. 10, 2021, investigators responded to an overdose at Marine Corps Base Hawaii, the place Grafton had been discovered unresponsive, given CPR, then taken to a hospital.
Throughout a search of Grafton’s barracks, Marine investigators discovered one blue tablet stamped “M-30 ” and a second crushed-up blue tablet in a clear plastic bag that later examined optimistic as fentanyl.
Grafton’s medical information from Sept. 13, 2021, point out he instructed Marine medical personnel he had an unintended overdose on Sept. 10, 2021, after shopping for two Percocet tablets “off the road ” and “snorted 1 /2 pill.”
Grafton mentioned the overdose was “unintentional ” and that he was “simply being careless and was making an attempt to have enjoyable.”
On Nov. 13, 2021, Grafton was discovered useless in his barracks on Marine Corps Base Hawaii.
An post-mortem and toxicology report decided the reason for dying was “fentanyl toxicity” but it surely was unknown when he died.
On the scene, his cellphone and a small plastic bag containing a blue, crystalline substance that examined optimistic as fentanyl had been recovered. Investigators with the Naval Legal Investigative Service reviewed Grafton’s cellphone and interviewed his associates and associates.
A evaluation of Grafton’s cellphone revealed “a number of conversations with people on the social media utility Snapchat ” about shopping for and utilizing cocaine, hashish, oxycodone, Percocet and psilocybin mushrooms.
The Snapchat conversations concerning the sale of unlawful medicine continued as much as Nov. 9, 2021, the day earlier than he died of a fentanyl overdose.
“Based mostly on the messages between ‘jay_hnl’ and (the sufferer ), the CID investigation, and the medical information,” the DEA agent wrote that each the overdose on Sept. 10, 2021, and the deadly overdose on Nov. 10, 2021, had been the results of counterfeit Percocet, also called oxycodone M-30 tablets, purchased from “jay_hnl,” based on the legal grievance.
Federal investigators gathered proof from two different U.S. Marines who admitted they purchased medicine, generally in bulk, from Wu. The Marines mentioned they went to Wu’s Waikiki condominium.
One of many Marines helped federal investigators arrange an undercover drug purchase from Wu, on June 29, 2022.
Wu was arrested at about 2 :35 p.m. that day when he was seen by federal brokers getting right into a automotive registered to his mother. Brokers discovered a scale with cocaine residue and about 188 grams of cocaine within the trunk.
A search of Wu’s condominium turned up hashish, a number of bottles of prescription codeine, psilocybin mushrooms and cocaine.
In a secure in Wu’s room, federal brokers discovered $34, 248 in money and 780, 000 in Japanese yen, or about $5, 228.
HOW TO GET HELP—The Substance Abuse Counseling Middle at Marine Corps Base Hawaii is a medical facility that gives screenings and assessments for active-duty service members, grownup relations, reservists and civilian staff of the bottom.—Following screening and evaluation, diagnoses and remedy or program suggestions from SACC are confirmed by a Navy medical officer.
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