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...

SEATTLE – A 38-year-old Mexican citizen who previously resided in Kent, Washington was sentenced today in U.S. District Court in Seattle to ten years in prison for drug trafficking. Ramon Duarte Garcia was arrested in June 2024, following a drug investigation lasting nearly four years. Between 2020 and June 2024...

BOISE – Michael Paul Lacasse, 48, and Venetia Dawn Trischan, 47, of Caldwell, were sentenced to 133 months and 96 months, respectively, in federal prison for conspiring to distribute methamphetamine, heroin, and cocaine. According to court records, in December 2023, law enforcement learned that Lacasse and Trischan were involved in...

BOISE – Evan Nickolai Ernstson, 48, of Boise, was sentenced to 262 months in federal prison for conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine, Acting U.S. Attorney Justin Whatcott announced today. Senior U.S. District Court Judge B. Lynn Winmill also sentenced Ernstson to serve five years of supervised release upon completion of his...

SEATTLE – A 37-year-old man who was living in a Des Moines, Washington, hotel, is charged federally with four counts of possession of controlled substances with intent to distribute, one count of possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking offense, and one count of money laundering announced...

FRESNO, Calif. — Jose Miguel Perez, 42, of Corona, pleaded guilty to cocaine and heroin trafficking, Acting U.S. Attorney Michele Beckwith and Drug Enforcement Administration Special Agent in Charge Bob P. Beris announced. According to court documents, Perez was pulled over by law enforcement officers while driving north on Interstate...

TACOMA, Wash. – A high-level drug redistributor for a drug ring connected to Aryan prison gangs was sentenced to 84 months (24 months on count 1 consecutive to 60 months on count 2) in prison for drug and gun possession, announced Acting U.S. Attorney Teal Luthy Miller. C’La Morales, 39...

SAN FRANCISCO – Two drug dealers extradited from Honduras to San Francisco were sentenced to multiple years in federal prison for drug trafficking offenses in the Bay Area. Jorge Viera-Chirinos, 35, was sentenced to 40 months in prison on March 5, 2025. Elmer Matute, 32, was sentenced to 36 months...

TACOMA, Wash. – A key member 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 14 years in prison for his role in the conspiracy and for possessing firearms in furtherance of drug...

TACOMA, Wash. – A 32-year-old Renton, Washington resident was sentenced today in U.S. District Court in Tacoma to 13 years in prison for his role in a drug trafficking ring connected to Aryan prison gangs, announced Acting U.S. Attorney Teal Luthy Miller. Shawn Ellis was arrested in March 2023, when...