TACOMA, Wash. – Twenty-seven people were indicted by a grand jury for drug trafficking, and many of those in the indictment are tied to the “Aryan Family,” a white supremacist prison gang, announced U.S. Attorney Nick Brown. Twenty-four of the defendants have been arrested over the last five days in...

SEATTLE – Two members of a drug trafficking ring that buried drugs and cash on a rural property near Arlington, Washington, were sentenced today in U.S. District Court in Seattle, announced U.S. Attorney Nick Brown. Jose Arrondondo-Valdez, 27, was sentenced to nine years in prison and Yvette Olguin, 40, was...

Seattle – The leader of a violent, prolific drug trafficking ring was sentenced today in U.S. District Court in Seattle to 15 years in prison, announced U.S. Attorney Nick Brown. Cesar Valdez-Sanudo, 36, pleaded guilty in June 2022 to conspiracy to distribute controlled substances, conspiracy to commit money laundering and...

Seattle – The mid-level leader of a drug distribution cell that was one of the most violent seen in the Western District of Washington was sentenced today in U.S. District Court in Seattle to ten years in prison, announced U.S. Attorney Nick Brown. Jose Daniel Espinoza, 35, was indicted and...

Yakima, Washington – On January 24, 2023, United States District Judge Mary K. Dimke sentenced Alexis Sanchez-Gomez, 21, of Moxee, Washington, to 12 years in federal prison after his guilty plea to Possession of Firearms in Furtherance of a Drug-Trafficking crime. Sanchez-Gomez, a documented member of the Lower Valley Locos...

PORTLAND, Ore.—A Honduran man residing in Portland is facing federal charges after he was arrested moving two kilograms of rainbow-colored fentanyl and several firearms between two Portland-area motels. Jose Isidro Zuniga Torres, 47, has been charged by criminal complaint with conspiracy to possess and possess with intent to distribute fentanyl...

SEATTLE – Three significant drug trafficking groups responsible for trafficking more than 1,000 pounds of methamphetamine and hundreds of thousands of fentanyl pills are facing federal charges tonight. Federal investigators and local law enforcement partners seized two RVs packed with meth and fake pills after they were driven from California...

Spokane, Washington – United States District Judge Thomas O. Rice sentenced Guillermo Valdez, age 34, of Moses Lake, Washington, to 204 months in federal prison after Valdez had pleaded guilty on April 20, 2022 to two counts of Possession with Intent to Distribute 500 or More Grams of Methamphetamine and...

RICHLAND, Wash. – Eric Christian, age 34, of Kennewick, Washington, was sentenced to serve 46-months in federal prison for conspiring with inmates of the Benton County Jail to smuggle contraband into the jail in exchange for money. Christian, who pled guilty in December 2021 to Conspiracy to Provide Prohibited Objects...

YAKIMA, Wash. – Vanessa R. Waldref, the United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Washington, announced that a federal grand jury has indicted Susen Ann Gorst, age 34, of Toppenish, Washington. The federal indictment charges Gorst with Possession with Intent to Distribute Fentanyl, Possession with Intent to Distribute Methamphetamine...