Three UW-Madison students were arrested Friday on charges related to the distribution of ecstasy as part of Dane County’s largest-ever ecstasy distribution bust.
Ashkan Faradieh, 21, 505 University Avenue, Apt. 1001, was charged with six counts of the indictment, Ghassan Majdalani, 21, 344 W. Dayton St., Apt. 28, faces one count and Matthew Louie, 22, 407 W. Washington Ave, Apt. 2, was named in two counts.
The three were among six individuals named in an indictment announced by United States Attorney Grant Johnson alleging they were involved in a plan to ship the drug from Pennsylvania and Florida to Wisconsin before distributing it on and around the UW-Madison campus. A second indictment charges Steven Santana, 30, of Madison, 403 W. Doty St., with one count of distribution of ecstasy and two counts of possession of the drug.
The indictment alleges Faradeih, Majdalani and Louie conspired with Paymon Farhadieh, Steven Larson and Augusto Rodriguez to move more than 100,000 pills of ecstasy between January 2000 and December 10, 2001. Paymon Farhadieh, 23, of New York City, was named in one count of the indictment, Larson, 25, of Los Angeles, was charged with six counts and Augusto Rodriguez, 24, of Miami, faces six counts.
Paymon Farhadieh and Larson were students at Penn State University at the time of the alleged conspiracy. If convicted, all seven men could face up to 20 years in prison for each count.
Assistant District Attorney Tim O’Shea, prosecutor for the case, told the Wisconsin State Journal that investigators intercepted a package that contained $31,250 in cash.
At the time of Santana’s arrest, agents seized 11,000 pills that were believed to be ecstasy.
Ecstasy is most often distributed at raves, rock concerts and nightclubs. An overdose of the drug could produce high blood pressure, faintness, panic attacks, seizures and a drastic rise in body temperatures, according to a publication by the United States Department of Justice.
“[Ecstasy] is a growing problem in the Western District of Wisconsin, especially on college campuses,” Johnson said in the indictment. “Users should be aware of its great dangers, and dealers should know that they face very severe penalties. Federal law enforcement authorities will continue to aggressively investigate and prosecute [ecstasy] cases.”
Interim dean of students Roger Howard told the Wisconsin State Journal that anyone caught selling drugs to students would be punished harshly.
“I’m alarmed whenever I hear of students or anybody around students engaged in these kinds of drug sales,” he said. “Drug sellers in my experience have very little concern for the safety and health of their clients.”
Majdalani, Louie and Ashkan Farhadieh were arraigned in United States District Court Friday and were detained pending further proceedings scheduled for this week.
Louie previously pleaded guilty to a charge of possession of cocaine in October of 2000.
