DENVER – The older sister of one of the teenagers accused of murder and arson in the 2020 fire that killed five in Green Valley Ranch agreed to plead guilty Thursday to federal drug and gun possession charges.
Tanya Bui, 24, pleaded guilty Thursday to two federal counts in the U.S. District Court of Colorado in Denver: possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime and possession with intent to distribute a substance containing fentanyl.
Bui is the older sister of Kevin Bui, who is one of three teenagers charged with a deadly fire that killed a Senegalese family in Green Valley Ranch in 2020. Kevin Bui and Gavin Seymour will be tried as adults after a judge in late January denied their lawyers’ requests to move their cases back to juvenile court. The other juvenile is facing charges in juvenile court.
When police were investigating the arson and murder case, they discovered that Kevin Bui was helping Tanya Bui traffic drugs. They found communications with them detailing how Kevin would help Tanya distribute fentanyl pills and marijuana through social media and over the phone.
When investigators searched their home in Littleton, they found 74 grams of fentanyl pills and nearly 4,000 grams of marijuana, according to federal court filings. Investigators said Tanya Bui would tell Kevin whom to sell to, where to make deals, and generally directed him on how to help her.
As part of the plea deal, Tanya Bui agreed to forfeit a .45-caliber pistol, ammunition and $6,825.
She faces a minimum of five years in prison and up to five years of supervised release for the firearm count and up to 20 years in prison and a minimum of three years supervised release for the second count, along with fines.
Court documents filed Thursday after the plea hearing indicate that prosecutors will not seek 20 years for Bui on the second count.
Bui’s sentencing was scheduled for June 10.