TACOMA, Wash. – A 52-year-old Tukwila, Washington resident was sentenced in U.S. District Court in Tacoma to 120 months in prison. Anthony Escoto was indicted in connection with a two-year investigation of drug trafficking organizations connected to the Aryan Family and Omerta prison gangs. At the sentencing hearing Chief U.S...

Seattle – Over the last three weeks, federal, state and local law enforcement have been working to dismantle a Sinaloa Cartel-connected drug trafficking ring distributing fentanyl, methamphetamine, cocaine, and heroin throughout western Washington, announced Acting U.S. Attorney Teal Luthy Miller. The drug traffickers transported narcotics from Mexico, via California, sometimes...

SPOKANE, Wash.– Acting United States Attorney Stephanie Van Marter announced that Luis Esquivel-Bolanos (a/k/a “Colorado”), age 45, of Guerrero, Mexico was sentenced on multiple drug trafficking and firearms charges. Esquivel-Bolanos was found guilty on April 16, 2025, following a jury trial. United States District Judge Thomas O. Rice sentenced Esquivel-Bolanos...

TACOMA, Wash. – Key members of a drug trafficking organization connected to the Aryan Family prison gang were sentenced today in U.S. District Court in Tacoma to prison terms. Jesse James Bailey, 40, was sentenced to 210 months (17.5 years) in prison. His wife, Candace Bailey, 43, was sentenced to...

SEATTLE, Wash. – A U.S. citizen deeply enmeshed in an international drug smuggling conspiracy was sentence in U.S. District Court in Seattle to five years in prison. Just over a year ago, law enforcement teams from the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), Seattle Police Department and IRS Criminal Investigation executed 24...

EUGENE, Ore.— The leader of a Lane County, Oregon, drug trafficking cell was sentenced to federal prison today for possessing 384 pounds of methamphetamine, the largest single seizure of methamphetamine in Oregon State history and valued at over a million dollars. Martin Manzo Negrete, 51, a Mexican national unlawfully residing...

Seattle – Fourteen people were indicted in late May and eleven were taken into custody in coordinated arrests last week as part of an ongoing investigation of drug traffickers with ties to drug trafficking in Seattle’s International District and homeless encampments, announced Acting U.S. Attorney Teal Luthy Miller. The defendants...

Tacoma – A major redistributor for a South Sound-based drug trafficking ring that was connected to Aryan prison gangs was sentenced today in U.S. District Court in Tacoma to 126 months in prison, announced Acting U.S. Attorney Teal Luthy Miller. 46-year-old Joseph Hempel, of Burien, Washington, was a high-volume drug...

TACOMA,Wash.– A co-leader of a drug distribution ring selling fentanyl pills, methamphetamine, and heroin throughout the Puget Sound region was sentenced today in U.S. District Court in Tacoma to 17 and a half years in prison for his role in the conspiracy to distribute narcotics, conspiracy to commit money laundering...

SEATTLE – A 35-year-old Seattle man was sentenced in U.S. District Court in Seattle to eight years in prison for drug distribution and firearm crimes, announced Acting U.S. Attorney Teal Luthy Miller. Mohamed Abdirisak Mohamed pleaded guilty in January 2024. Mohamed was indicted in April 2023 after being caught on...