United States Drug Enforcement Administration

PORTLAND, Ore. – Darlene Michelle Sturdevant, 61, of Vancouver, Wash., was sentenced today to 14 years in federal prison and five years’ supervised release for conspiring to possess with intent to distribute methamphetamine and heroin throughout the Portland metropolitan area, possessing with intent to distribute heroin, and committing an offense while on release.

According to court documents, in February 2018, Sturdevant was a passenger in a vehicle driven by Rene Elene Griffen Nunn, 60, also of Vancouver, when the two were stopped by the Clackamas County Interagency Task Force and the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration. Investigators believed Sturdevant and Nunn were driving from Vancouver to Portland to distribute drugs.

A search of the vehicle revealed $155,949, a digital scale, a notebook in Sturdevant’s backpack and approximately three ounces of heroin in Nunn’s purse. Investigators returned to Vancouver and searched a residence shared by Sturdevant, Nunn and others and found a 3/4 pound of heroin and a kilogram of methamphetamine.

Sturdevant was charged with drug trafficking and released pending trial. After pleading guilty in October 2018, DEA learned that Sturdevant was again selling drugs. On Jan. 29, 2019, DEA agents executed a search warrant at Sturdevant’s new residence in Portland and seized over a pound of heroin, digital sales, a drug ledger and $27,250.

During sentencing, U.S. District Court Judge Marco A. Hernandez ordered Sturdevant to forfeit $183,199 seized by investigators.

On Oct. 31, 2019, Nunn pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute heroin. She will be sentenced on March 4, 2020.

This case was investigated by the DEA and CCITF and was prosecuted by the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Oregon.

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