HAGÅTÑA, Guam — A Guam man already serving a life sentence for aggravated murder was sentenced to a second life term in federal court for building and directing a methamphetamine trafficking network from inside the Guam Department of Corrections, U.S. Attorney Shawn N. Anderson announced.
Edward Glen Demapan, 54, was sentenced June 3 in the U.S. District Court of Guam to life imprisonment for conspiracy to distribute 50 or more grams of methamphetamine and attempted possession with intent to distribute 50 or more grams of methamphetamine. He was found guilty after a jury trial on Nov. 19, 2025. The court also imposed five years of supervised release and a $200 special assessment.
Federal court documents describe how Demapan, while incarcerated, obtained cell phones, chargers, controlled substances and drug paraphernalia, and maintained a network of individuals and addresses outside the prison to receive drug parcels and carry out his instructions. Working with Texas-based co-conspirator Liana Joelene Cabrera and multiple Guam-based associates, Demapan coordinated the shipment of methamphetamine to Guam and the return of drug proceeds to Texas.
Federal law enforcement seized a mail parcel containing $80,160 in cash and several additional parcels containing over 14 pounds of methamphetamine. Authorities recovered a cache of contraband from Demapan’s cell and additional items even after he was moved to a more secure housing unit.
Testimony revealed that Demapan enforced his authority through intimidation. Co-conspirator Zerxes Jabidando Viva stated he feared for his own safety and that of his family.
Three co-conspirators were also sentenced. Cabrera, 43, of Houston, was sentenced April 2 to 180 months for conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine and unlawful use of the mail to distribute drug trafficking proceeds. Allan Dale Bernal, 53, of Dededo, was sentenced June 4 to 108 months for conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine. Viva, 47, of Dededo, was sentenced March 10 to 63 months for the same charge. Each received five years of supervised release.
“This case ends Demapan’s lengthy history of drug trafficking,” Anderson said. “Federal and territorial agencies are now working to transfer him off island to a federal facility, far away from our communities and his drug den at Guam DOC. We expect prisons to be drug free. Where reality is otherwise, we will take aggressive enforcement action.”
Anthony Chrysanthis, Special Agent in Charge of the Drug Enforcement Administration Los Angeles Field Division, which oversees Guam, said Demapan ran a sophisticated operation from inside prison with the help of co-conspirators. “But today’s sentencing should serve as a reminder that you can’t outsmart the justice system,” Chrysanthis said. “You will be held accountable for your crimes, irrespective of location or jurisdiction.”
The investigation was conducted by the DEA Guam Resident Office, the U.S. Postal Inspection Service and the U.S. Marshals Service, with assistance from the Guam Police Department Special Investigations Section. Assistant U.S. Attorney Benjamin K. Petersburg prosecuted the cases. The case is part of Operation Take Back America, a nationwide Department of Justice initiative targeting cartels and transnational criminal organizations.