Crime & Safety
Puyallup Bar Owner Sold Meth, Cocaine, Heroin: Feds
John Choe pleaded guilty on Friday to a drug charge. He's facing up to 40 years in prison, according to prosecutors.
PUYALLUP, WA — A Puyallup businessman pleaded guilty on Friday to charges that he sold drugs out of his downtown-area bar.
John Choe, the former owner of Johnny's Bar and Grill, pleaded to one count of possession of methamphetamine with intent to distribute at federal court in Tacoma. Choe was arrested last spring after undercover federal agents bought more than 45 grams of cocaine from him over several months, according to federal prosecutors.
In his plea agreement, Choe admitted that he began selling drugs sometime in January 2018, and continued until at least April. When DEA agents searched the bar this spring they found a metal box behind the bar containing a variety of illegal drugs, from synthetic cannabis to Percocet and heroin.
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Choe will be sentenced in December, and could face up to 40 years in prison, federal prosecutors said. His bar, which is now closed, was located at the north end of the downtown Fred Meyer parking lot.
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