Man Gets Prison on Heroin Charge
A Thai citizen who tried to sell 1 1/2 pounds of heroin to an undercover narcotics agent at the Wat Thai Buddhist Temple in North Hollywood was sentenced in federal court Monday to four years and nine months in prison.
Tanat Yuvavanich, 49, an occasional Los Angeles resident, pleaded guilty in April to one count of distributing heroin.
Yuvavanich, who also goes by the name Mekpongsatorn Boonsong, admitted trying to sell the heroin to an undercover Drug Enforcement Administration agent at the temple on Coldwater Canyon Avenue between July 15, 1999, and Oct. 3, 2000.
No one at the temple was implicated in the crime.
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