A 35-year-old Mountain View man accused of using the U.S. Postal Service for methamphetamine trafficking pleaded not guilty to possession with intent to distribute 50 grams or more of methamphetamine and carrying a firearm in the commission of a drug trafficking crime.
U.S. Magistrate Judge Kenneth Mansfield ordered Johnathan Samuel Tai to appear for a preliminary hearing before U.S. District Judge Rom Trader at 9:30 a.m. Tuesday.
Mansfield also ordered that Tai remain in custody without bail at the Federal Detention Center in Honolulu. Mansfield found Tai to be a flight risk and a danger to the community.
After an investigation involving federal and local law enforcers, a search warrant executed March 12 on an Ala Loop home turned up more than a half-pound of methamphetamine, 91 marijuana plants and more than $100,000 in cash, according to federal court documents.
According to documents, the firearm is a Ruger 9mm semi-automatic handgun which was found in Tai’s 2016 Toyota 4Runner. Also found at Tai’s home was more than 2,600 rounds of ammunition in various calibers and a bump-stock device that allows the shooter of a semi-automatic firearm to initiate continuous firing of the weapon with a single pull of the trigger, documents state.