Lawrence men sentenced in case involving trafficking drugs, guns in Douglas County

Two Lawrence men have been sentenced in a case that involved trafficking drugs and guns in Douglas County, U.S. Attorney Tom Beall announced Monday.

Petsamai Phommaseng, 36, pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine and was sentenced Monday to 15 years in prison, Beall’s office said in a news release.

In the plea, Phommaseng said he and others distributed meth in Douglas, Franklin and Anderson counties.

A Lawrence man who provided meth to Phommaseng and other street dealers, 40-year-old Damon Douglas Griffin, was sentenced to 105 months — just less than 9 years — in prison, according to the release.

Griffin would give Phommaseng meth on credit, and Phommaseng would pay back Griffin in cash or firearms following the sale of the drugs, according to the release.

In 2015, Phommaseng was charged in relation to illegal meth activity that occurred in 2014 and 2015 in the 2500 block of Ousdahl Road in Lawrence. According to a news release at that time from the U.S. Attorney for the District of Kansas, Phommaseng was facing charges of two counts of possession of a firearm by a methamphetamine user and two counts of possession of a firearm to further drug trafficking.

The Kansas Bureau of Investigation, the Franklin County Drug Enforcement Unit and Assistant U.S. Attorney Sheri Catania assisted on the case involving Phommaseng and Griffin, according to the Monday release.