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Second student accused of dealing Ecstacy released
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Friday, May 3, 2002
A second UW-Madison student held on charges of conspiracy to delivery Ecstasy was released from custody Thursday.
Matthew Louie, a 22-year-old international relations major from Virginia set to graduate this summer, appeared in federal court to hear the conditions of his release.
Louie’s attorney said he had no objection to the conditions, which include a prohibition on travel outside the western district of Wisconsin, a daily curfew period of 6 p.m. to 7 a.m. and no alcohol or drug use.
Louie’s parents sat quietly behind their son as the magistrate read the release conditions. Prior to the detention hearing, Jean Louie, Matthew’s mother, said the family hoped for his immediate release.
“We want our son safely back home with us,” she said.
Louie was arrested April 26 along with UW students Ashkan Farhadieh and Ghassan Majdalani after a year-long federal investigation led to an indictment alleging they were involved in a plan to move 100,000 pills of Ecstasy between January 2000 and Dec. 10, 2001.
All three pleaded not guilty in their arraignments April 26. Majdalani was released from custody Monday; Farhadieh’s detention hearing is set for today.
Louie was named in two counts of the indictment, each of which carry a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison, a $1 million fine and three years supervised release.
As another condition of the release, Louie is forbidden to have contact with witnesses Brooke Alexejun, Andrew Borland, Michael Coyne, Adam Hirsch, Victoria Koven, Jackie Mogel and Michelle Rusch, as well as his co-defendants.
While the magistrate said Louie could lawfully be in the same room as any of the witnesses without contacting them, Louie’s attorney said he wanted to be sure none of the students attend the same classes as Louie.
Both Louie’s defense counsel and family said they hoped Louie could finish school before any further criminal proceedings begin.
“We would like him to continue his work at school and be a productive human being,” Jean Louie said.
No future court appearances for Louie were finalized as of Thursday.
