United States Drug Enforcement Administration

SEATTLE – A 40-year-old repeat offender with a long history of drug and gun crimes was sentenced Friday in U.S. District Court in Tacoma to 10.5 years in prison for conspiracy to distribute controlled substances. Levi Frank Graham, most recently of Everett, Washington, was identified as a drug redistributor for the Camargo Banuelos brothers of Sinaloa, Mexico. The brothers arranged the transportation of kilos of meth and fentanyl to the Pacific Northwest, sometimes using semi-trucks to get the drugs up Interstate 5.

Graham was heard on the wiretap ordering up pound quantities of methamphetamine, thousands of fentanyl pills, and repeatedly trying to obtain fentanyl powder. At the sentencing hearing Chief U.S. District Judge David G. Estudillo said, “The amount of controlled substances that you likely were distributing…is significant. You, yourself, Mr. Graham, know what the impact of those controlled substances has on…individuals, their family, community…. You know the devastation that those types of substances have because you lived it.”

“Despite numerous convictions, including a 10-year sentence for drug trafficking, Mr. Graham continued to show a complete disregard for the law and the safety of our communities by trafficking thousands of pounds of fentanyl and other deadly narcotics into Western Washington,” said Robert A. Saccone, Special Agent in Charge, DEA Seattle Field Division. “This sentence will help protect the public and hold him accountable for the harm caused by his actions. Through Fentanyl Free America, DEA, along with our federal, state, and local partners, is committed to disrupting the fentanyl supply chain, reducing the availability of these deadly drugs, and saving American lives.”

“Mr. Graham has been relentlessly engaged in criminal activity since the age of 18. He has 26 criminal convictions in the past 22 years, most recently a lengthy sentence for illegal gun possession,” said First Assistant U.S. Attorney Neil Floyd. “This latest federal conviction involves deadly drugs, packaged for distribution, while he once again illegally possessed a firearm. His previous 110-month sentence did not deter him, so this longer prison sentence is required to protect the public.”  

According to records filed in the case, Graham came onto law enforcement’s radar in September 2022, as the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) began conducting a criminal investigation of a Mexican drug trafficking organization (DTO) operating out of Tacoma, Washington, with ties to Nevada, Oregon, and California. Agents determined this DTO, led by two brothers, Rosario Abel “Joaquin” Camargo Banuelos and Francisco “Fernando” Camargo Banuelos, was responsible for distributing large quantities of methamphetamine, fentanyl, heroin, and cocaine in the Western District of Washington and elsewhere.

As early as June 2024, Graham was picked up on the wire and via text message ordering thousands of fentanyl pills and pounds of methamphetamine from the Camargo Banuelos brothers. He was arrested by local police in September 2024 with some of the drugs and cash from drug sales.  Despite that arrest, Graham continued to be in contact with the Camargo Banuelos DTO until the investigation culminated in coordinated arrests of numerous individuals on August 4, 2025. Graham was picked up with drugs and a gun at an Everett hotel about a month later, on September 3, 2025.

During the coordinated arrests and searches on August 4, 2025, law enforcement seized seven pistols and three rifles, as well as nine kilograms of methamphetamine, more than 5 kilograms of fentanyl, nearly 4 kilograms of cocaine, and more than a kilogram of heroin. Law enforcement seized more than $342,000 in suspected drug trafficking proceeds.

This investigation produced significant seizures even before the coordinated arrests in early August 2025. Past seizures included approximately 465 pounds of methamphetamine, approximately 269 pounds of fentanyl, approximately 23 pounds of cocaine, and approximately 6.4 pounds of heroin. In addition, investigators seized over $309,522 USD in assets and seized an approximate 11 firearms.

In asking for a 15-year sentence, prosecutors noted that sentences of ten years or less, and multiple state arrests have not impacted Graham’s criminal activity. “In this case, Graham engaged in drug trafficking over the course of at least 15 months while the investigation went on, re-arming himself with another firearm and body armor, and bringing his drug trafficking base of operations to a hotel in Everett where it endangered the residents and the broader community,” prosecutors wrote in their sentencing memo.

The case was investigated by the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) and the Seattle Police Department with assistance from Homeland Security Investigations (HSI).