HONOLULU – Three Las Vegas residents face a mandatory 10 years to life in federal prison after they were found guilty of conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine in Hawaii, the top federal prosecutor in Honolulu said.

Benjamin Acuna, Anabel Valenzuela and Eddy Olguin face sentencing Jan. 5 after they were convicted this week of shipping 2,000 pounds of meth from Nevada to Hawaii between 2002 and 2005, U.S. Attorney Edward Kubo Jr. said in a statement released Thursday.

Acuna and Valenzuela, who are married, were accused of spearheading the operation, with Olguin helping the day-to-day operation.

All three were convicted of conspiring to distribute and possess, with intent to distribute, 50 grams or more of methamphetamine.

Acuna and Valenzuela were also found guilty of conspiracy to commit money laundering. The jury ordered them to forfeit to the government $8 million, five properties and the contents of four bank accounts and a safety deposit box in Las Vegas.

Kubo said 21 people have been prosecuted and convicted of federal drug offenses for their roles in a drug ring that became the focus of a three-year investigation by the Drug Enforcement Administration and Internal Revenue Service.

He says another accused co-conspirator, Antonio Santos, 40, of Waipahu, Hawaii, was sentenced Sept. 2 by U.S. District Judge Michael Seabright to 20 years in prison for conspiring to distribute and possess, with intent to distribute, 50 grams or more of methamphetamine.