Amarillo Store Owner Gets More Than 12 Years for Drug Trafficking

Phouphet Sayasane, pleaded guilty in December 2019 to distributing and possessing with intent to distribute a controlled substance. Phet as he goes by was an Amarillo convenience store owner and drug trafficker and was sentenced to 151 months in federal prison for his role in distributing synthetic cannabinoids, also known as K-2 or Spice. The sentence was announced U.S. Attorney for the Northern District of Texas Erin Nealy Cox.

According to the court documents, Sayasane owned and or assisted in operating a network of convenience stores and smoke shops around the Amarillo area where he and co-defendants sold illegal synthetic cannabinoids.

Sayasane, and co-defendants, Paul Vang, 46, Krystal Vang, 43, Danny Vorasane, 31, Terry Morgan, 57, and Andrew Rodriguez, 35, sold synthetic cannabinoids to customers in one-gram and five-gram packages, often labelled as “aroma therapy.”

In plea papers, Sayasane admitted to supplying bulk amounts of K-2 directly to other convenience stores and “smoke shops” in Amarillo including those of Paul Vang and Krystal Vang.

Through the network of convenience stores, Sayasane illegally distributed in excess of three kilograms of K-2 into the Amarillo community.

Other co-defendants also received the following sentences for their involvement: Paul Vang, 51 months, Krystal Vang, 46 months, Danny Vorasane, 37 months, Terry Morgan, 27 months, and Andrew Rodriguez, probation.

The investigation was led by the Drug Enforcement Administration, with the assistance of Homeland Security Investigations, the Amarillo Police Department, the Potter County Sheriff’s Office, the Randall County Sheriff’s Office, and the Texas Department of Public Safety. Assistant U.S. Attorney Sean Long is prosecuting this case. U.S. District Judge Matthew Kacsmaryk handed down the sentence