TACOMA, Wash. – The leader of a methamphetamine trafficking ring was sentenced Friday August 30, 2024, in U.S. District Court for federal felonies related to his drug trafficking. Jesus Venegas-Gatica, 37, of Lakewood, Washington was sentenced to 97 months. At the sentencing hearing Chief U.S. District Judge David G. Estudillo...

ANCHORAGE, Alaska – The leader of an extensive transnational drug trafficking organization was sentenced to 28 years in prison for running a conspiracy that trafficked vast amounts of dangerous drugs to Alaska. According to court documents, Miguel Baez Guevara, a.k.a. “Javi,” 41, a U.S. citizen who was living in Mexico...

PORTLAND, Ore.—The manager of an Oregon-based drug trafficking cell with ties to a large Mexico-based drug trafficking organization was sentenced to federal prison today following an investigation by the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA). Horacio Luna-Perez, 42, of Hillsboro, Oregon, was sentenced to 97 months in federal prison and five...

Seattle – A 37-year-old former Kent, Washington, resident was sentenced today in U.S. District Court in Seattle to 30 months in prison and three years of supervised release for selling narcotics near a drug treatment center. Mohamed Aweys Muse has been in custody since his arrest in March 2023. At...

SEATTLE, Wash. – A Bellingham, Washington woman who was a redistributor for a fentanyl distribution ring was sentenced in U.S. District Court in Seattle. Natasha Parkhill, 38, of Bellingham pleaded guilty in March 2024 and was sentenced today to 4 years in prison. At the sentencing hearing U.S. District Judge...

EUGENE, Oregon—A Bend, Oregon man was sentenced to federal prison for possessing 20 pounds of methamphetamine with the intent to distribute. Isaac Kitashima, 48, was sentenced to 108 months in federal prison and five years’ supervised release. According to court documents, from August 2020 through June 2021, Kitashima and co-conspirators...

Spokane, Washington- Vanessa R. Waldref, the United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Washington, announced today that three men are facing federal drug charges. Osvaldo Guadalupe Soto-Orduno, Jose Roman Lizarraga Gerardo, and Jose Efrain Gonzalez Rodriguez were charged by criminal complaint with Conspiracy to Distribute 400 Grams or More...

Tacoma – A former attorney from Mexico was sentenced June 21, 2024, to 90 months in prison for conspiracy to distribute controlled substances, announced U.S. Attorney Tessa M. Gorman. Gustavo Castellanos-Tapia, 38, of Burien, Washington, was a significant supplier of methamphetamine to a drug trafficking organization with ties to the...

SEATTLE – Law enforcement teams from the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), Seattle Police Department and IRS Criminal Investigation executed 24 search or arrest warrants taking four people into custody who are allegedly connected to a drug trafficking conspiracy, announced U.S. Attorney Tessa M. Gorman. The drug conspirators have ties to...

POCATELLO – Richard Corey Fox, 54, and Angelina Larae Norton, 61, a couple living in Idaho Falls, were sentenced to over ten years combined for distributing fentanyl and methamphetamine in eastern Idaho, U.S. Attorney Josh Hurwit announced today. According to court records, detectives with the BADGES Task Force initiated an...