LOS ANGELES : Man Gets 97 Months in ‘Ecstasy’ Drug Case
A Huntington Beach man has been sentenced to 97 months in prison by a Los Angeles federal judge, after the man pleaded guilty to possession with intent to distribute the designer drug MDMA, also known as “Ecstasy,” “X” or “Vitamin E.”
U.S. District Judge Laughlin E. Waters imposed the term on John A. Disanto, 35, who agreed to buy $3,000 worth of the drug from a Redondo Beach police officer posing as a narcotics dealer, according to Assistant U.S. Atty. Mark A. Byrne, who prosecuted the case.
MDMA is classified by federal narcotics laws as a controlled substance because of its high potential for abuse and its lack of accepted medical use, but it has grown in popularity “among the nightclub set,” according to Byrne.
Byrne said Disanto had previously been convicted in state and federal courts of distributing anabolic steroids. The convictions caused him to be classified as a career offender and resulted in a considerably longer sentence than he would otherwise have received.
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