United States Drug Enforcement Administration

TACOMA, Wash. - A Thurston County resident who shipped packages of methamphetamine and heroin to a small town in Alaska was sentenced to 20 years in prison on November 30, 2012.  Robert Dean Grimes, 52, was arrested on October 14, 2011, when he returned to Washington State from Alaska.  Grimes had attempted to retrieve packages of drugs from the post office in Soldotna, Alaska and then eluded law enforcement.

Grimes has a significant criminal history including multiple drug trafficking convictions since 1979, as well as assault with a deadly weapon, eluding arrest and theft.  When law enforcement searched his home at the time of his arrest, they found a large quantity of stolen goods -- from tools to watches to jewelry, most likely payment for drugs. 

According to records filed in the case, Grimes worked with co-conspirators in September 2011, to mail packages containing large amounts of methamphetamine and heroin to Soldotna, Alaska.  Grimes and a co-conspirator tried to pick up the drug packages on October 3, 2011, but were told to return the following day.   After the men picked up the packages they discovered they contained a tracking device.  The men threw the packages out of their vehicle and attempted to hide from police at a flop house.  Ultimately Grimes’ co-schemers were arrested in Alaska, but Grimes evaded law enforcement until apprehended when he returned to Washington State.  Records indicate that Grimes had made a number of similar trips to Alaska.

The case was investigated by the Drug Enforcement Administration and was an Organized Crime and Drug Enforcement Task (OCDETF) investigation, providing supplemental federal funding to the federal and state agencies involved.