I'm in almost the exact same situation, except I have a $40 MoneyPak. I took a look at BitInstant but there's no option to go from MoneyPak to BTC, so is there any way of going directly between the 2? If not, I'd still be more than happy to trade with a regular member of the forum, so PM me if interested.
Not sure how you're going to proceed, but when it comes to money (especially the hard earned kind) I wouldn't trust anyone enough to do a personal transaction (no offense to anyone).