Second Defendant Linked to Drug Trafficking in Seattle's Notorious “Jungle” Homeless Camp Sentenced to Prison
Defendant Continued to Deal Drugs Even While Supposedly Engaged in Drug Treatment
SEATTLE – A 43-year-old Seattle man was sentenced in U.S. District Court in Seattle on April 15, 2026, to 75 months in prison for his years long activity dealing meth and fentanyl in Seattle’s homeless encampments and International District. Khampheth Keodara sold fentanyl pills, methamphetamine, and cocaine to people residing in “The Jungle” a homeless encampment under I-5 near Seattle’s International District. At today’s sentencing hearing Judge Tana Lin said, “You were dealing fentanyl, meth, and cocaine – drugs that cause great harm in our community. Your actions added to all that suffering.”
“On three separate King County cases, Keodara got a break from judges, and a reduced sentence for his crimes, by agreeing to undergo drug treatment. All three times he washed out of the drug treatment program,” said First Assistant U.S. Attorney Neil Floyd. “Even as he was pretending to be in drug treatment, he was dealing poisons to vulnerable unhoused people. This sentence is the result of such predatory behavior.”
According to records filed in the case, the investigation began in November 2023, with the Seattle Police, FBI, and DEA focusing on a drug trafficking organization dealing fentanyl, methamphetamine, cocaine, and heroin in the homeless encampments of Seattle and in drug trafficking areas of the International District at locations such as 12th and Jackson. Some of the defendants were arrested with firearms. Using a court authorized wiretap, investigators gathered evidence of the drug trafficking and made arrests and seizures over the course of the investigation. Law enforcement heard intimations of violence on the calls and worked to intervene without tipping off the targets of the investigation. In one call involving Keodara he discussed providing a pound of methamphetamine to the contact, indicating he was not a small-time dealer.
During the arrest operation in January 2025, law enforcement seized 17 firearms and various quantities of controlled substances.
On January 21, 2026, Keodara pleaded guilty to conspiracy to distribute controlled substances.
In asking for a 90-month sentence, assistant U.S. Attorney Casey Conzatti wrote to the court, “Keodara continued to commit crimes while in his 30s. He received his third DOSA (Drug Offender Sentencing Alternative) sentence in 2022 after committing numerous felony offenses, including identity theft, unlawful possession of a firearm, witness tampering, and conspiracy to commit witness tampering. This DOSA, like his first two, was revoked… While in the community, ostensibly engaging in drug treatment, Keodara was engaged in drug distribution.”
“Mr. Keodara has had multiple chances to become a law-abiding citizen,” said W. Mike Herrington, Special Agent in Charge of FBI Seattle. “Instead, he chose to contribute to the fentanyl crisis plaguing our communities by preying on those made vulnerable by their addictions. We will continue to work with our federal, state, and local law enforcement partners to remove dangerous drugs and those who peddle them from our communities, along with the violent crime they bring.”
Keodara is the second defendant to be sentenced in the case. Theodore Nation, 36, of Seattle was sentenced in February 2026 to 30 months in prison. Tommy Pham, 38, of Newcastle, Donfeuy Saephan, 55, of Seattle, and Sang Tran, 55, of Kent, Washington, have each pleaded guilty and are scheduled for sentencing in July.
The investigation was led by the FBI, Seattle Police Department and Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) with significant assistance from the Internal Revenue Service - Criminal Investigation (IRS-CI). Investigators also worked with the King County Sheriff’s Office and the Tukwila Police Department.
This investigation is part of the Homeland Security Task Force (HSTF) initiative established by Executive Order 14159, Protecting the American People Against Invasion. The HSTF is a whole-of-government partnership dedicated to eliminating criminal cartels, foreign gangs, transnational criminal organizations, and human smuggling and trafficking rings operating in the United States and abroad. Through historic interagency collaboration, the HSTF directs the full might of United States law enforcement towards identifying, investigating, and prosecuting the full spectrum of crimes committed by these organizations, which have long fueled violence and instability within our borders. In performing this work, the HSTF places special emphasis on investigating and prosecuting those engaged in child trafficking or other crimes involving children. The HSTF further utilizes all available tools to prosecute and remove the most violent criminal aliens from the United States. HSTF Seattle comprises agents and officers from Homeland Security Investigations, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), The United States Marshals Service (USMS), the U.S. Postal Inspection Service (USPIS), the Internal Revenue Service-Criminal Investigations (IRS-CI), the United States Secret Service (USSS), U.S. Customs and Border Protection, and the U.S. Coast Guard Investigative Service, with the prosecution being led by the United States Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Washington.
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