Sentenced Alvin Anioay to 10 years in prison for distribution of methamphetamine

Sentenced Alvin Anioay to 10 years in prison for distribution of methamphetamine. But since conviction of this offense carries that amount as a mandatory-minimum penalty, the pronouncement came as no surprise to the Chantilly man.Marilou Anioay of the Brookside community, was also prepared for what happened and accepted her son’s sentence with grace. Still, it wasn’t easy for her. "He’s a nice boy," she said afterward, outside the courtroom. "But he was controlled by drugs."
Charged with conspiracy to distribute 500 grams or more of methamphetamine, Alvin Anioay, 26, was one of 16 people arrested, Sept. 12, 2007, in connection with this offense. The arrests were made through the efforts of several, law-enforcement agencies, including Fairfax County police, the FBI, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives; and the Drug Enforcement Administration.
Anioay was remanded to federal custody, five days later. And on Nov. 5, 2007, he pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court in Alexandria. A statement of facts filed in court that day presented details of his case.
"From on or about January 2006 through Sept. 12, 2007, Anioay worked with co-conspirators to obtain quantities of methamphetamine," said the document.
It further stated that, during 2006, Anioay and the others "obtained a total of more than 500 grams of methamphetamine from a single source of supply in California. [They] then redistributed that methamphetamine from the residence of a co-conspirator in Maryland, various hotels and elsewhere." Anioay and his partners paid for the meth shipments by bulk cash shipment and Western Union wire transfer. Then, stated the document, "On or about June 14, 2007, in Herndon, Anioay met with an undercover law-enforcement officer and offered to sell him methamphetamine supplied from California at a price of approximately $2,500 per ounce."
It also said Anioay was "personally involved" in the meth's distribution. And at the asking price he demanded from the undercover officer, 500 grams would fetch $44,000.
He returned to court last Friday, March 7, for sentencing, accompanied by his attorney, Greg Hunter. Assistant U.S. Attorney Daniel Grooms represented the federal government. Since Judge Hilton was already familiar with the facts of the case and neither attorney had long statements to make, the process was quick and to the point.
Noting that the federal sentencing guidelines for this case were 120-135 months, with a mandatory minimum of 120 months, or 10 years, Hunter asked for the low end of the guidelines. And Grooms agreed that a sentence within the guidelines was appropriate.
Hilton then sentenced Anioay to 10 years in prison, plus a special-assessment fine of $100. The judge also ordered him into five years supervised release. Anioay is a permanent U.S. resident; however, as a condition of his supervised release, Hilton said the Chantilly man must cooperate with any directives that immigration officials give him.Hunter entered Courtroom 800 fully aware of what his client’s outcome would be. Nonetheless, he said later, "I’m disappointed that it’s such a high, mandatory minimum. I don’t know a judge or prosecutor — let alone a defense attorney — who doesn’t think it’s too high. But the judge had no choice but to impose it."
The youngest of three boys, Anioay had lived with his mother in Chantilly. And after he was sentenced, she spoke a little about what had led to this day. The family’s originally from the Philippines and, when Anioay came to the U.S. in August 1998, at age 16, he was placed into 10th grade at Oakton High. He worked at the Giant Foods store in Fox Mill, picking up trash and bringing in grocery carts. He later advanced to stocking the dairy and deli sections.
However, he didn’t complete even a year of high school. "He was making ‘A’s and ‘B’s, said his mother. "But then he didn’t want to go to school, anymore. The bigger boys bullied him. He wouldn’t take the bus, anymore, so I tried to drive him, but he still wouldn’t go."
Anioay then worked at a series of printing companies — Global Mail in Sterling, and MDI Imaging and United Lithography in Ashburn. But in 2003, he ran afoul of the law and, according to his mother, he eventually spent almost nine months in jail.
He was one of three people arrested Sept. 5, 2003, by Fairfax County police in connection with 14 commercial burglaries that occurred in Centreville, Chantilly and Fairfax between April and September of that year.
Anioay was convicted of one count of grand larceny and two counts of burglary in Circuit Court and, on July 2, 2004, he received a four-year, suspended prison sentence and was placed on probation.
But he was arrested again in December 2006 for violating his probation. As a result, 60 days of his suspended prison time were revoked, in February 2007, and he was sent to jail.