Western District of Washington

Seattle – A Seattle registered sex offender who was communicating with another person who has since been federally indicted for child sexual abuse, was sentenced today in U.S. District Court in Seattle to three years in prison and 15 years of supervised release for possession of images of child sexual abuse, announced First Assistant U.S. Attorney Charles Neil Floyd. Christopher Randall Hamilton, 39, came to the attention of law enforcement because of disturbing communications he had with a Port Orchard, Washington, man who was arrested in a law enforcement sting operation for seeking to have sex with children. At today’s sentencing hearing U.S. District Judge Kymberly K. Evanson said Hamilton’s conduct was “extremely troubling. The images involved very young children and were violent. The discussions [with the other defendant] are very concerning.”

According to records filed in the case, Hamilton was arrested in March 2025, when the analysis of his phone revealed that he possessed approximately 180 videos and 1,500 images of child sexual abuse. Hamilton had been communicating with a man who was arrested after he drove to eastern Washington believing he was meeting with an adult who would allow him to sexually assault a young child. The child was fictitious, and the man was arrested and charged federally. A review of his phone led to Hamilton. The two men had discussed locating a mother with young children at a mall such as Southcenter Mall, so that they could sexually molest children.

In court today, prosecutors argued for, and the judge approved, a 15-year term of supervised release to follow prison so that Hamilton’s communications and electronic devices can be monitored by federal probation. Hamilton was previously convicted in Michigan of possession of images of child sexual abuse.

The case was investigated by the Washington State Patrol (WSP), Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), and the Seattle Police Department (SPD).

The case is being prosecuted by Special Assistant United States Attorney Laura Harmon. Ms. Harmon is a Senior Deputy Prosecutor for the King County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office, specially designated to prosecute child exploitation crimes in federal court.

Seattle – A Mercer Island, Washington, man was sentenced today in U.S. District Court in Seattle to two years in prison for four counts of wire fraud for taking and misusing some $35 million from his former employer, announced First Assistant U.S. Attorney Charles Neil Floyd. Nevin Shetty, 42, was found guilty on November 7, 2025, following a nine-day jury trial. At the sentencing hearing Judge Tana Lin told Shetty, “The loss had significant and severe effects on the company. Your actions threw into complete turmoil the lives of those 60 people (who were laid off) …. You almost put the company out of business…. You were playing with money that wasn’t yours.”

“Mr. Shetty brazenly schemed to line his own pockets with his employer’s money. Through years of pretrial litigation and then at trial, he steadfastly deflected blame and even went so far as to claim that his fraud was somehow meant to help his former company,” said First Assistant U.S. Attorney Neil Floyd. “His lies did not fool the jury.”

According to records in the case, Shetty was hired as the CFO of a private software company in March 2021. The company was raising capital for its work in multiple rounds of funding. The company, with Shetty, drafted a policy governing how the money raised should be kept safe while the company worked to grow its business. The company adopted an investment policy statement that called for company cash to be invested only in money market accounts or other conservative investments. The company’s overriding objective was to preserve its capital for use in operating and growing the business.

Even though Shetty helped draft the policy and disseminate it to the board of directors for approval, he secretly moved approximately $35 million in company funds to a cryptocurrency platform he controlled as a side business. Shetty created that side business, called HighTower Treasury, in early 2022. It had no other outside customers. In April 2022, shortly after he was told he could not continue as CFO at his employer due to concerns about his performance, Shetty secretly transferred the funds out of his employer’s account.

Between April 1 and 12, 2022, using wire transfers he ordered from a Chase bank branch near his home, Shetty moved $35,000,100 of his employer’s money to an account for HighTower Treasury. No other executives or board members at the company knew of these transfers. Shetty, through HighTower, then placed the money in a realm of cryptocurrency sometimes referred to as decentralized finance or “DeFi.” Shetty chose high-yield DeFi lending protocols that promised to generate returns of 20% or more. Shetty’s idea was that HighTower would pay Shetty’s company a comparatively small, fixed amount and keep the remainder of the returns for itself.  As an owner of HighTower, Shetty stood to personally share in those profits, which could have been substantial. In the first month alone, Shetty’s scheme earned roughly $133,000 of profit for himself and his HighTower business partner.

However, the cryptocurrency investments that Shetty made with the stolen funds soon began declining and by May 13, 2022, the value of the investments was nearly zero. After the $35 million was essentially gone, Shetty told two of his fellow executives what he had done. He was immediately fired.

In asking for a nine-year prison sentence, Assistant U.S. Attorney Philip Kopczynski wrote to the court, “Shetty’s serious crime deserves stern punishment. This was a calculated scheme motivated by greed and meticulously carried out over many months. Shetty created a web of lies. He lied to people up and down the chain of command at [his employer], people at outside institutions like Stifel and Chase, and to his HighTower business partner…. Adapting to the massive loss from Shetty’s fraud required [his former employer]to lay off 60 people. Those are 60 people whose lives and careers were irrevocably damaged by Shetty’s greed.”

“In less than one month, Mr. Shetty stole $35 million from his employer that he knew was meant to be kept in conservative investments to help grow the company,” said Jonathan Dean, Assistant Special Agent in Charge of the FBI Seattle field office. “Instead, he lost almost of all it through risky cryptocurrency investments. As the company’s CFO, Mr. Shetty was not only part of the investment planning but also had the access and trust to move the money. I commend the FBI and the U.S. Attorney’s Office who worked tirelessly on a difficult case to bring this embezzler to justice.”

Shetty was ordered to pay $35,000,100 and will be on supervised release for three years after prison. Judge Lin imposed a special condition that he not serve as an officer or director of a company without prior permission from the probation office.

The case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Philip Kopczynski and Grace Zoller.

Tacoma – A Puyallup, Washington man was sentenced today in U.S. District Court in Tacoma to 42 months in prison for operating a ‘dark web’ marketplace selling fentanyl tainted pills, announced First Assistant U.S. Attorney Charles Neil Floyd. Trevor Stephen Haahr, 34, of Puyallup, Washington, distributed more than 100,000 fentanyl pills designed to look like legitimately manufactured pain medications. When investigators searched his storage unit, which Haahr used as a parcel packaging center, they located nearly another kilogram of fentanyl pills. At sentencing U.S. District Judge Tiffany M. Cartwright said, “This was not a matter of small-time drug dealing to supplement an individual habit; this took sophisticated efforts to sell large amounts of fentanyl.”

“This defendant was sending dangerous pills through the mails at the height of the fentanyl overdose crisis,” said First Assistant U.S. Attorney Neil Floyd. “His dark web distribution endangered not only those across the country who bought his pills, it endangered those postal workers who might be exposed to the fentanyl from a damaged package or shipping mishap.”

“Just one fentanyl pill has the potential to take a loved one, destroy a family, and forever change a community” said Inspector in Charge Anthony Galetti. “The U.S. Mail remains one of the most trusted forms of shipping in the world. When people misuse it to harm our communities, it’s our duty and responsibility to do everything we can to hold people like Haahr accountable. The sentencing today should serve as a warning to all. If you ship illegal and dangerous narcotics, we will find you. We thank the HSI and the FBI for their assistance on this case.”

According to the statements in the plea agreements, in early 2023, law enforcement began an investigation into sales of fentanyl pills on a marketplace located on the dark web. After ordering some of the pills that were labeled to appear as M30 oxycodone pills, law enforcement testing revealed they were fentanyl pills.

Through various investigative techniques, Trevor Stephen Haahr was identified as the operator of the marketplace on the dark web. In February 2024, Haahr mailed a package in Pierce County that was searched and contained more than 10,000 fentanyl pills. 

On March 11, 2024, law enforcement executed search warrants at Haahr’s residence, office, storage locker, vehicle.  At Haahr’s office he was signed on to the dark web vender profile. In his truck and storage locker investigators found drug proceeds, fentanyl pills, and supplies for shipping the drugs.

Law enforcement also seized bitcoin that Haahr had received in payment for the drugs. At the time it was seized the bitcoin was worth approximately $50,000. Haahr is forfeiting the bitcoin as proceeds of his drug dealing.

In asking for the 5-year prison sentence prosecutors noted that Haahr’s pill distribution occurred as fentanyl deaths were peaking in Kin County. “By 2023, the number of fentanyl-involved overdoses in King County rose to 1,086. Although the number of fentanyl-involved overdoses peaked in 2023 in King County, in 2024 there were still 788 fentanyl-involved overdoses. This data only reflects the local fatal impact of fentanyl, and overdose deaths, of course, are but one aspect of the fentanyl crisis in America. The overdose-deaths metric fails to show the long-term impact of fentanyl on surviving users, their families, and the community.”

Kaeli Arielle Albert, 35, of Orting, Washington, conspired with Haahr to provide the pills. She was sentenced earlier this year to 18 months in prison.

“By distributing more than 100,000 fentanyl laced pills, Mr. Haahr and his co-conspirators were spreading dangerous and highly addictive drugs into our communities,” said Jonathan Dean, Assistant Special Agent in Charge of the FBI Seattle field office. “The FBI and our partners will continue to pursue drug traffickers and hold them accountable, including those who might think they are hiding on the dark web.”

“As today’s sentence proves, the anonymity of the dark web does not shield criminals from facing justice,” said HSI Seattle Acting Special Agent in Charge April Miller. “Haahr will serve time in federal prison for putting lives at grave risk by flooding our communities with fentanyl‑laced counterfeit pills disguised as legitimate medicine. HSI, USPIS, and the FBI identified the source of this deadly online marketplace, tracked his supply chain and finances, and dismantled his operation. If you traffic fentanyl—on the street or online—we will find you and hold you accountable.”

The case was investigated by the U.S. Postal Inspection Service (USPIS), the FBI, and Homeland Security Investigations (HSI).

The case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Brian Wynne and Casey Conzatti.

Seattle – One of two brothers from Mexico, who were both caught with a total of more than 30 pounds of fentanyl powder and pills and a kilo of heroin, was sentenced today in U.S. District Court in Seattle to 42 months in prison, announced First Assistant U.S. Attorney Charles Neil Floyd.  Benito Perez Aguilar, 29, of Kent, Washinton, and his brother Antonio Perez Aguilar, 32, of Mill Creek, Washington, were arrested in May 2025 following a drug trafficking investigation by the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA).  The men shared the moniker “Miguel” in their drug trafficking from 2022-2025. The investigation documented various drug sales throughout western Washington. Neither brother has legal status in the U.S.

“These men were moving large amounts of fentanyl pills and powder in our community – they were not small-time dealers,” said First Assistant U.S. Attorney Neil Floyd. “Particularly concerning, Benito Perez Aguilar, while driving impaired, caused a traffic accident on I-5 in n 2017. He remained a fugitive on a state court warrant related to that case, until his federal arrest last year.” 

“This investigation shut down a significant fentanyl and heroin distribution operation that was putting lives at risk across western Washington,” said Robert A. Saccone, Special Agent in Charge, DEA Seattle Field Division. “As part of our commitment to a Fentanyl Free America, DEA is committed to disrupting the fentanyl supply chain, reducing the availability of these deadly drugs, and saving American lives. Investigations like this show that DEA and our partners will continue to target the criminal networks responsible for trafficking these deadly drugs and hold those who profit from this poison accountable.”

According to records filed in the case, the DEA moved in on the residences of both brothers on May 16, 2025. At Benito’s residence, law enforcement recovered approximately 76.5 grams of M-30 pills, 1,169 grams of fentanyl powder, as well as scales,

 baggies, and $20,285 in cash. In Antonio’s residence, officers seized 1,992.3 grams of M-30 pills; 11,320 grams of fentanyl powder, 1,271.8 grams of heroin, and $12,396 in cash.

In November, Benito Perez Aguilar pleaded guilty to conspiracy to distribute controlled substances.

In asking for a five-year prison term, prosecutors noted the danger of the drugs the brothers trafficked in the community, and evidence that Mr. Perez had engaged in drug trafficking previously. “On December 15, 2017, Mr. Perez caused a multi-vehicle collision while driving under the influence. He then attempted to escape the scene by offering another driver up to $2,000 to drive him away. After Mr. Perez was located by law enforcement, he was observed to have bloodshot eyes and the 

odor of intoxicants. Police officers later conducted a court-authorized search of Mr. Perez’s vehicle and recovered 411 grams of heroin, six scales, five phones, and a box of Ziploc baggies. Mr. Perez failed to appear in court as directed by a summons in 2018. There was an active warrant for Mr. Perez based on this criminal conduct for over seven years, until he was arrested in 2025.”

U.S. District Judge Jamal N. Whitehead ordered Benito Perez Aguilar to serve four years of supervised release following his prison term. However, he likely will be deported following prison due to a lack of legal status in the United States.

Last month Antonio Perez Aguilar was sentenced to four years in prison. He had already been convicted in 2018 of Solicitation to Delivery of a Controlled Substance, Cocaine, in state court, for purchasing $105,000 worth of cocaine. He was sentenced to four months in prison in that case.

The case was investigated by the DEA.

The case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Rachel Yemini.

Seattle – Two federal defendants who repeatedly returned to the U.S. following deportation were each sentenced to six-month federal prison terms with the expectation that they will then be deported, announced First Assistant United States Attorney Charles Neil Floyd. Alberto Figeroa-Luque,45, a Mexican national and Fredy Ottoniel Alonzo Carcamo, 54, a Guatemalan national were both taken into federal custody following arrests on state crimes. Judge Tana Lin noted that each man had repeatedly returned to the U.S. without authorization.

“Those here illegally who are breaking our laws and making our communities unsafe remain a priority for our office,” said First Assistant U.S. Attorney Floyd. “While many we arrest are removed before we secure convictions, here are two examples of criminal aliens arrested based on the administration’s priorities. One of these defendants was arrested illegally carrying a firearm and possessing narcotics, the other is a sex offender who failed to register and was caught peeping into a neighbor’s window.  Both had been previously deported but returned and broke the law again.”

According to records in his case, Alberto Figeroa-Luque, was ordered removed to Mexico for the first time in 2012. Since that time, he has been removed an additional four times. Figeroa-Luque came to the attention of federal law enforcement when he was arrested by Marysville Police for knowingly using a controlled substance in a public place. A search of his backpack revealed cocaine, fentanyl, and a semi-automatic handgun with a loaded magazine. Based on a judicial warrant, Figeroa-Luque was transferred from state to federal custody. In December 2025, Figeroa-Luque pleaded guilty to Reentry of a Removed Alien.

According to records filed in his case, Fredy Ottoniel Alonzo Carcamo, was convicted in February 2007, of Attempted Voyeurism in King County Superior Court. In July of 2007 he was ordered deported, but removal did not occur. In February 2020, Alonzo Carcamo was convicted of First-Degree Voyeurism in King County Superior Court, after he was caught peering through a broken blind at a woman and young child at 4:00 am.  He was removed to Guatemala in July 2021. He was arrested unlawfully entering the U.S. in Arizona in September 2021 and removed a second time in February 2022. In November 2025, Alonzo Carcamo was arrested in King County and charged with failing to register as a sex offender. Based on a judicial warrant Alonzo Carcamo was transferred from state to federal custody, and in December 2025, Alonzo Carcamo pleaded guilty to Reentry of a Removed Alien.

Both cases were investigated by Homeland Security Investigations.

Special Assistant United States Attorneys Jordan Steveson and Christine Caceres prosecuted the cases.

Tacoma – A 47-year-old Lewis County man appeared today in U.S. District Court in Tacoma charged with unlawfully possessing firearms, announced First Assistant U.S. Attorney Charles Neil Floyd. Michael Lee Draper is prohibited from possessing firearms due to prior criminal convictions. In 2009, Draper was sentenced to 13 years in prison for unlawfully possessing firearms, including a stolen firearm. Prosecutors will ask the court to detain Draper pending trial at a hearing scheduled for Monday March 2, 2026.

According to records filed in the case, Draper was under investigation for theft from his former employer, the Cowlitz Indian Tribe. On January 22, 2026, the Thurston County Sheriff’s Office pursued a truck driven by Draper for reckless driving. The truck crashed through a fence on a rural property. A passenger in the truck was taken into custody at the scene.

Draper fled from police but was located by a Washington State Patrol surveillance aircraft and was taken into custody in a muddy, wooded ravine.

Investigators learned that Draper was under investigation for making fraudulent purchases using credit accounts of his former 

employer. Some of the purchases were recovered in the back of the truck. Also in the truck were two polymer firearms – a handgun and an AR style rifle. Both guns are “ghost guns” – firearms without serial numbers that have been manufactured using a 3D printer. The truck also contained some drug paraphernalia and some suspected crystal methamphetamine.

Draper has been in state custody in Thurston County until he appeared on the federal charge today.

Unlawful possession of a firearm is punishable by up to 15 years in prison, no more than three years of supervised release, and a fine of up to $250,000.

The charges contained in the criminal complaint are only allegations. A person is presumed innocent unless and until he or she is proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.

Law enforcement continues to investigate the theft charges related to Draper’s employment with the Cowlitz Tribe. Draper currently faces five state counts of first-degree theft in Lewis County.

The case is being investigated by the Cowlitz Tribal Police, the Thurston County Sheriff’s Department, and the FBI.

The case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Victoria Cantore. 

Seattle –A 47-year-old resident of Newcastle, Washington, pleaded guilty today in U.S. District Court in Seattle to conspiracy to commit money laundering for his scheme to take in fraud proceeds and forward them to coconspirators’ bank accounts and cryptocurrency addresses, announced First Assistant U.S. Attorney Charles Neil Floyd. Geoffrey K. Auyeung was arrested on a criminal complaint on August 12, 2024. He was indicted by the grand jury later that month. Sentencing in front of U.S. District Judge John C. Coughenour is scheduled for May 12, 2026.

According to the plea agreement, Auyeung admits that he set up nine different entities that he used to accept proceeds from investors who thought they were investing in the oil and gas industry. The names of business entities that offered purported investments related to oil and gas were Sea Forest International LLC.; Apex Oil and Gas Trading LLC.; Navigator Energy Logistics LLC.; Terminal Energy International Escrow Service LLC.; Energo Horizons Logistics (EA) LLC.; Legacy Energy Logistics Transport Group LLC.; Green Tree Gateway LLC, Dragon Timbers International LLC; and ANS & Partners International Limited.

From at least August 2022 through August 2024, co-schemers convinced victims to send money to what was represented as escrow accounts to purchase oil tank storage in either Rotterdam, Netherlands, or Houston. The schemers indicated that the investors could make significant profits by renting the oil tank storage they obtained to others. However, once the funds came into accounts controlled by Auyeung, the money was quickly moved into other accounts, moved offshore, or was used to purchase cryptocurrencies, including Bitcoin, Tether, USD Coin, and Ethereum, via cryptocurrency exchanges such as Gemini, BitStamp, and Coinbase. Much of the cryptocurrency was further transferred to accounts at the cryptocurrency exchange Binance. The Binance accounts were controlled by the same individual or individuals located in Nigeria and Russia. Victims were not sent any further information on their investment and Auyeung and others simply stopped responding.

Auyeung opened at least 81 different bank accounts at 24 different financial institutions. And he opened 19 accounts on eight different cryptocurrency exchanges. Between June 2022 and July 2024, those accounts received $97.1 million in domestic and international third-party wire transfers and other third-party deposits. Law enforcement has traced deposits linked to some 35 different people or entities. Some $24.7 million came from those victims. The government believes that the remaining deposits in Auyeung’s accounts similarly represent fraud proceeds.

As Auyeung became more aware of the fraud, he demanded higher commission from the coconspirators. He admits he received at least $4,078,348 in commission payments. Auyeung admits he mislead banks and other financial institutions about the source of the funds and his role in any fraud complaints. 

Even after Auyeung was indicted in this scheme, he continued to communicate with the coconspirators and with victims who thought they were investing in oil and gas storage. Between August 2024, and December 2025, Auyeung accepted an additional $400,000 in commissions by funneling deposits through bank accounts in his wife’s name.

In the plea agreement Auyeung agrees to pay $24,707,031 in restitution.

Auyeung is forfeiting approximately $2.3 million in funds and cash seized from his bank accounts and home at the time of his arrest, as well as an Audi SQ8. He further agrees not to contest the civil forfeiture of some $7.1 million seized from various cryptocurrency wallets. He also agreed to relinquish about $300,000 currently in his bank accounts to pay toward his restitution obligation.

Conspiracy to commit money laundering – spending, is punishable by up to 10 years in prison. Under the terms of the plea agreement, prosecutors will recommend 63 months in prison or the high-end of the guidelines range if it is less than 63 months. Judge Coughenour is not bound by the recommendation and can impose any sentence allowed by law.

The case is being investigated by Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) and Internal Revenue Service Criminal Investigations (IRS-CI).

The case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Jehiel I. Baer and Yunah Chung.

Tacoma – A San Jose, California resident pleaded guilty today to mail fraud for his scheme to steal from thousands of businesses and charities with scam letters that appeared to be from state agencies, announced First Assistant U.S. Attorney Charles Neil Floyd. Johnny Q. Nguyen, 50, agreed to pay $90,850 in restitution to victims who mailed checks or money orders to his Olympia post office box believing they were paying state required registration fees. Nguyen is scheduled for sentencing by Chief U.S. District Judge David G. Estudillo on May 22, 2026.

According to records filed in the case, in the fall of 2024, Nguyen sent mass mailings on fake government letterhead to thousands of entities. The mailings were fraudulent billing statements directing the recipients to send checks to a post office box Nguyen had rented in Olympia, Washington. The letters instructed recipients to pay registration and filing fees for their businesses or charity. Nguyen created a limited liability company called “Business Entities” and induced the victims to make their checks payable to that entity.

Thousands of Washington and California victims sent checks, cashier’s checks, and money orders. Nguyen deposited some 350 from Washington victims totaling $82,210.  He cashed 60 from California victims totaling $8,640.  Investigators were able to seize an additional 1,711 pieces of mail that contained checks and money orders totaling $395,295.

After being charged in this scheme, Nguyen appeared in U.S. District Court in Northern California. He was instructed to surrender all passports and appear in Tacoma for arraignment. Instead, on June 24, 2025, Nguyen boarded a flight from San Francisco to Taipei, Taiwan enroute to Vietnam. He used a passport he had failed to surrender to the court. Nguyen was detained in Taipei and put on a flight back to California where he was taken into custody. He was later released on pre-trial supervision.

Chief Judge Estudillo can consider the attempt to flee from justice in determining the appropriate sentence.

Mail fraud is punishable by up to 20 years in prison. Under the terms of the plea agreement, prosecutors will recommend 33 months in prison.

The case was investigated by the U.S. Postal Inspection Service (USPIS).

The case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Jehiel I. Baer. 

Tacoma – A Jamaican citizen pleaded guilty this week in U.S. District Court in Tacoma to wire fraud for his lottery scheme that cost an elderly victim more than $550,000, announced First Assistant U.S. Attorney Charles Neil Floyd. Roshard Andrew Carty, 34, was arrested in Jamaica on August 21, 2025, and arrived in the Western District of Washington for arraignment on October 23, 2025. Carty will be sentenced by U.S. District Judge Tiffany M. Cartwright on May 14, 2026.

According to records filed in the case, Carty first contacted the 73-year-old Vancouver, Washington victim in 2020. He posed as an employee of Publisher’s Clearinghouse and claimed the victim won $22 million and a car in the lottery, but that she needed to pay taxes and fees to access her winnings. He convinced the victim that the FBI was recording the call and told her she was not to tell anyone about the big win. Between August 2020 and February 2024, he convinced the victim to send more than $550,000 to various money couriers throughout the United States, who ultimately sent the money to Carty in Jamaica.

Carty’s requests for cash started small and grew over time. He had the victim remove small amounts of cash from her accounts and send them to a U.S. location via FedEx. Carty told the victim the money was lost or stolen and demanded more. Carty told the victim to borrow against her home so she could send more money. Carty convinced the victim to sell her home to cover additional “costs and fees” to claim her prize.  In all, Carty stole more than $550,000 from the victim by having her mail the money to various couriers in the U.S.

Carty was relentless in contacting the victim using various phone numbers and texting programs. He contacted her thousands of times throughout the fraud. When she tried to cut off contact, he tried sending tow trucks, and pizza deliveries, and asked her landlord for a welfare check to try to get back in touch with the victim.

Carty was indicted in November 2024. Following his August 2025 arrest in Jamaica, Carty consented to extradition to the United States.

The U.S. Embassy in Jamaica has a page devoted to lottery scams based in that country. Find it here. The bottom line: You never should pay to receive a prize and any request for advance fees is a scam.

Wire fraud is punishable by up to 20 years in prison. Prosecutors have agreed to recommend no more than 41 months in prison and the defense is free to recommend any sentence. Judge Cartwright is not bound by the recommendation and can impose any sentence allowed by law.

The case is being investigated by the FBI. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Lauren Watts Staniar and David T. Martin. The Justice Department’s Office of International Affairs worked with the Government of Jamaica to secure the arrest and extradition of Carty.

Seattle – The Mexico-based leader of a violent drug trafficking organization was arraigned today in U.S. District Court in Seattle, following his transfer from Mexico, announced First Assistant U.S. Attorney Charles Neil Floyd. Jose Luis Sanchez-Valencia, 58, was transported from Mexico to the United States last month. The indictment for four federal felonies was returned in 2022. Sanchez-Valencia is charged with conspiracy to distribute controlled substances and three counts of illegal use of a communication facility. Sanchez-Valencia entered a plea of “Not guilty,” and trial was set in front of U.S. District Judge John C. Coughenour on April 20, 2026.

“This defendant was the cartel-connected leader of a violent drug trafficking ring operating in the South Puget Sound region,” said First Assistant U.S. Attorney Floyd. “His telephone calls link him to the conspiracy and to a local leader who was shot outside a Kitsap County stash house. Our goal in these investigations is to bring the leaders to justice. Whether they are here in Washington or abroad, they are pulling the strings for the cartels that profit at the cost of human lives in our community.” 

On February 28, 2023, a local leader of the drug ring, Jose Elias Barbosa, was sentenced to more than twelve years in prison for his leadership role in the drug trafficking organization tied to the CJNG cartel. The Sanchez-Valencia indictment cites three phone calls between Barbosa and Sanchez-Valencia tied to activities of the drug ring.

In November 2019, the DTO received a shipment of liquid methamphetamine concealed in candles. Barbosa helped DTO members to extract the methamphetamine and cook it into crystal form at a Port Orchard, Washington location. While law enforcement was surveilling the operation, Barbosa was shot behind the house.

The wiretapped calls in this investigation revealed a culture of violence. Members pursued those who owed drug debts to the organization and possessed firearms during the drug conspiracy. The wiretapped calls showed members discussed kidnappings, assaults, and even murders as ways to get debtors to pay up.

“This case underscores the relentless commitment of the Drug Enforcement Administration and our law enforcement partners to dismantle violent, cartel-connected drug trafficking organizations at every level,” said Robert A. Saccone, Special Agent in Charge, DEA Seattle Field Division. “By bringing this defendant from Mexico to face justice in the United States, we are sending a clear message: no matter where cartel leaders attempt to hide, we will work across borders to hold them accountable. The trafficking of methamphetamine, concealed in everyday items like candle wax, demonstrates the lengths these organizations will go to poison our communities.”

Sanchez-Valencia was amongst 37 Mexican nationals wanted for serious crimes in the United States transferred into U.S. custody on Jan. 20. The Justice Department Criminal Division’s Office of International Affairs coordinated the transfers.

The charges in the indictment have penalties of a mandatory minimum ten years in prison and up to life in prison.

The charges contained in the Sanchez-Valencia indictment are only allegations.  A person is presumed innocent unless and until he or she is proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.

The case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Amy Jaquette and C. Andrew Colasurdo.

The investigation was conducted by the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration’s (DEA) Tacoma Resident Office in partnership with Tahoma Narcotics Enforcement Team (TNET), Kent Police Department, Homeland Security Investigations, SeaTac Police Department, Thurston County Narcotics Team (TNT), the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), and Internal Revenue Service- Criminal Investigation (IRS-CI).

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. 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. 

Seattle – A 29-year-old Whatcom County man was arraigned today on an indictment for distributing fentanyl on Lummi Nation tribal land, announced First Assistant U.S. Attorney Charles Neil Floyd. Stephan Charlot was first arrested by Lummi Nation Police on June 21, 2025, following the fentanyl overdose death of another Lummi Nation member on May 25, 2025. Charlot pleaded “Not Guilty” today in federal court. Trial in front of U.S. District Judge Kymberly K. Evanson is scheduled for April 6, 2026.

According to records filed in the case, emergency responders were called to a home on the Lummi Nation in Bellingham just after midnight. They found an adult woman unresponsive. Despite life-saving efforts, she could not be revived.

The investigation alleged that Charlot had supplied the fentanyl that the victim had ingested. Burned foil paper and Narcan doses were found in the room where the victim was located. Later the victim’s young child was forensically interviewed and described how her mother had started shaking and asked her daughter to “Hold her.” The child did, and said when her mother stopped shaking, she believed this was when her mother had died.

Using records on the victim’s phone, law enforcement located the person who had purchased the fentanyl from Charlot, brought it to the victim’s residence where the two of them used fentanyl together. Based upon a review of the cell phone evidence, investigators learned that this was not the first time that Charlot had sold fentanyl.

On February 3, 2026, Charlot was brought into federal custody and was ordered detained due in part to multiple prior tribal charges for distributing narcotics, and multiple warrants for failing to appear in court. Charlot has been in tribal custody since his arrest last year and was indicted by the grand jury on February 4, 2026.

The charges contained in the indictment are only allegations.  A person is presumed innocent unless and until he or she is proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.

The case was investigated by the Lummi Nation Police Department and the FBI Northwestern Washington Safe Trails Task Force.

The case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Celia Lee. Ms. Lee serves as a Tribal Liaison for the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Western District of Washington.

Seattle – A 55-year-old Seattle man was convicted late yesterday in U.S. District Court in Seattle of abusive sexual contact aboard an aircraft, announced First Assistant United States Attorney Charles Neil Floyd. Jurors found Keith Witt molested the 19-year-old victim on an August 11, 2023, flight from Billings, Montana to Seattle. The jury deliberated for an hour and a half following a two-day trial. U.S. District Judge Ricardo S. Martinez scheduled sentencing for May 22, 2026.

According to records filed in the case and testimony at trial, the victim was in the window seat and Witt was next to her in the aisle seat on the 90-minute flight. Witt engaged the victim in conversation immediately upon boarding. The victim testified that he asked a number or personal questions that made her uncomfortable and touched her shoulder and earbuds, invading her space. The victim decided to feign sleep to avoid having to interact further.

The victim moved as far as she could towards the wall of the plane. Over several minutes, she felt Witt’s hand first move to her seat. Then he touched her thigh and after pausing continued to move his hand up to the hem of her shorts towards her genitalia. The victim flinched, and Witt would remove his hand, only to move it slowly back a few moments later. When the victim opened one eye, she was able to see that Witt appeared to be sexually aroused, and he was rubbing his erection. The victim got up and went to the front of the plane. She reported the conduct to the flight crew and closed herself in the restroom. In tears, she texted her mother about what had happened.

The flight attendants moved Witt to a seat at the back of the plane and reported the incident to the flight crew. The flight crew alerted personnel at SeaTac Airport, who contacted the Port of Seattle Police who met the plane and interviewed both Witt and the victim.

In closing argument Assistant United States Attorney Rachel Yemini noted that the victim’s testimony was corroborated by others on the plane who saw she was upset and crying. “There is no motive for (the victim) to fabricate the story. She suffered the consequences: she had to talk to the flight attendant; she had to talk to the detectives; she had to come to court and describe what happened to her to strangers. She had no motive to fabricate these allegations.”

In his rebuttal closing argument, Assistant United States Attorney Brian Wynne noted that Witt had testified that any contact was inadvertent as he had fallen asleep. Wynne said that testimony was simply not credible. “He was testing boundaries, pressing those boundaries… he does not want to bring attention to himself… he is trying to do it slowly and methodically. That is evidence of his intent.”

Abusive sexual contact on an aircraft is punishable by up to two years in prison.

The case was investigated by the FBI and the Port of Seattle Police.

The case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Rachel Yemini and Brian Wynne.

Seattle – Two Texas men pleaded guilty over the last few weeks to four counts of bank robbery and two counts of attempted bank robbery for their scheme to steal from banks by assaulting and threatening ATM technicians, announced First Assistant U.S. Attorney Charles Neil Floyd.

Ahmon Hogg, 22, of Humble, Texas, and Seth Coles-Body, 23, of Houston, were identified as part of a robbery ring operating across the country. The men would disable ATM machines, and when the technician showed up to fix the machine, they would threaten or assault the technician to steal the cash containers, called cassettes, from the ATM. Both men are scheduled for sentencing by U.S. District Judge James L. Robart in April.

According to the plea agreements, in December 2024, the pair worked together to disable ATMs on December 23 and 24, when the machines would be loaded with cash for the Christmas holiday. The coconspirators disabled a Bank of America ATM in Renton, Washington. After the technician arrived and began repairing the machine, he was forcibly confronted by Hogg and Coles-Body who brandished a screwdriver and demanded he open the machine and provide them with the cash cassettes. The technician did not open the machine, and after a scuffle, the technician was able to escape.

The next day in Vancouver, Washington, a technician was sent to repair a Bank of America ATM on SE Mill Plain Boulevard. As the technician started repairs, Hogg and Coles-Body ran up and intimidated the victim and grabbed five cash cassettes filled with currency. The men fled in a car that matched one seen the previous day in connection with the attempted robbery in Renton.

The defendants also admitted they had disabled a Bank of America ATM in Battle Ground, Washington, that same day. 

While the investigations were ongoing in Washington, Hogg and Coles-Body were identified in connection with ATM tampering cases on January 3, 2025, in the Phoenix, Arizona area. ATMs for Bank of America and Wells Fargo had been tampered with like the Washington ATMs. Hogg and Coles-Body were stopped by Phoenix law enforcement while attempting to rob one of the ATMs they had disabled.

On March 7, 2025, the defendants committed another robbery at Bank of America in Redmond, Washington. An ATM repair technician was working on the machine that had been disabled by Hogg and Coles-Body.  Once the machine was open, two robbers ran up and stole cash canisters filled with money from the machine. Five of the canisters were later recovered, damaged, on the shoulder of highway 520. A few days later, Coles-Body was stopped by U.S. Border Patrol with approximately $209,000 in cash. The cash was seized, and Coles-Body was released.

In May 2025, Hogg and Coles-Body were back in Houston, where they reside, and committed another robbery of a Wells Fargo. A repair technician had the machine open to make repairs, and Coles-Body rushed the technician and caused injuries. The men stole about $117,000 from the machine and abandoned their car a short distance away.

In June 2025, the men traveled to Oregon and disabled ATMs in Tigard and Hillsboro. While in the area, the men robbed an ATM customer who had just used a different machine.

Hogg and Coles-Body then drove from Oregon to Maine and on June 30, 2025, they disabled a Bank of America ATM in South Portland, Maine. While the technician was making repairs the men rushed and beat the technician, stealing $47,000 from the Bank of America. 

The men left Maine and drove across the country to Jackson, Mississippi where they were arrested in a traffic stop. They had stolen firearms and significant amounts of cash in the car.

Under the terms of the plea agreement, prosecutors will recommend a sentence of 121 months, or the high end of the sentencing guidelines range – whatever is higher. The defense agrees to request a sentence within the guidelines range calculated by Judge Robart at the time of sentencing.

Both men have agreed to pay restitution to the victims currently determined to be $768,900.  They also agreed to pay damages including medical expenses for the victim technicians.

The plea agreements resolve all the cases in Washington, Oregon, Arizona, Texas, Maine, and Mississippi. Judge Robart will consider all relevant conduct in determining the appropriate sentence.

Bank Robbery and Attempted Bank Robbery are punishable by up to 20 years in prison.

The case was investigated by the Vancouver, Phoenix, and Houston offices of the FBI and state law enforcement, the Columbia River Organized Crime Task Force, and state law enforcement partners in Hillsboro Oregon, Battleground, Washington, and Jackson, Mississippi. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Amanda McDowell, with assistance from the United States Attorney’s Offices in Phoenix and Houston.

Seattle – A 37-year-old man who was living in a Des Moines, Washington, hotel, was sentenced today in U.S. District Court in Seattle to six years in prison and three years of supervised release for drug and gun crimes, announced First Assistant U.S. Attorney Charles Neil Floyd. Dennis Aguilar Huisa was arrested three times over 15 months for possession of fentanyl pills and/or powder, methamphetamine, cocaine, and a firearm. After the third arrest Huisa was federally indicted and has been in custody since November 1, 2024.

At today’s sentencing hearing U.S. District Judge John C. Chun said fentanyl “is so dangerous and has destroyed so many lives…. He must have known that he was putting himself and his family at risk.”

According to records filed in the case, Puyallup Police first contacted Huisa on the side of the road in the early hours of August 15, 2023. Huisa said his car had overheated and he and a passenger were waiting for the engine to cool down. The police officer noticed that the license plate on the car did not match the type of vehicle listed in the registration. Huisa was removed from the car while law enforcement determined whether the car or the license plates were stolen. A second officer noticed blue pills in the car. Ultimately the car was impounded. A search revealed that there were about 1,000 fentanyl pills as well as some suspected fentanyl powder. There was also a scale with drug residue in the car.

On September 7, 2024, Puyallup Police responded to a report of a nine-month-old infant who had stopped breathing. Huisa and a woman met the officers outside a box truck the infant in their arms. Law enforcement worked to get the child to respond and breathe, Central Pierce Fire and Rescue responded and continued to work on providing aid to the child.

The law enforcement investigation found evidence that Huisa had given the infant two doses of Narcan suspecting that the child had been exposed to fentanyl or other drugs. Huisa gave permission to search the box truck. Law enforcement located approximately 115 blue fentanyl pills. On Huisa they found fentanyl powder and over $16,000 in cash.

The infant was taken to Mary Bridge Children’s Hospital. The child was given additional doses of Narcan, and the child’s blood tested positive for fentanyl, amphetamine, and oxycodone. The child survived.

Finally, on November 1, 2024, Auburn Police Department’s Special Investigations Unit served a search warrant on the Des Moines motel where Huisa had been living. In the hotel room they found small packages of fentanyl powder packaged for sale. Huisa had been attempting to flush it down the toilet when he heard law enforcement arrive. Officers found additional fentanyl powder, methamphetamine, and cocaine in other places around the room. Officers once again searched the box truck Huisa had been driving and found two kilograms of fentanyl powder and a Polymer 80 ‘ghost gun’ – a gun made without a serial number.

Huisa was charged by criminal complaint on March 12, 2025. He was indicted by the grand jury on March 26, 2025. On November 12, 2025, Huisa pleaded guilty to possession of controlled substances with intent to distribute, possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime, and money laundering. The financial investigation revealed that between July 2022 and September 2024, Huisa had made about $370,000 in cash deposits to his bank account – the proceeds of drug dealing.

Today, Huisa told the court he was “very ashamed and cannot forgive myself for what I have done to my daughter… I did not come here to deal drugs.”

In asking for an eight-and-a-half-year sentence prosecutors wrote to the court, “Huisa was contacted by law enforcement on three different occasions and continued to engage in his drug trafficking activities, to the detriment of his infant daughter. Huisa appeared to be undeterred following the overdose of his child and continued to engage in the distribution of controlled substances.”

Huisa will likely be deported to Honduras following his prison sentence.

The case was investigated by the Puyallup Police Department, the Auburn Police Department, the Internal Revenue Service (IRS) Criminal Investigation (CI), and the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA).

The case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Casey Conzatti.

Seattle – Law enforcement fanned out to some 17 locations in Washington, Oregon, and California, on Wednesday February 4, 2026, making 14 arrests following a wiretap investigation of a drug and gun trafficking organization affiliated with the Black Gangster Disciples street gang, announced First Assistant United States Attorney Charles Neil Floyd.  Lead defendant Kevin Salgado, 27, of Puyallup, Washington, is alleged to have led the group distributing counterfeit oxycodone and Xanax pills, methamphetamine, fentanyl, and cocaine. Some members of the drug trafficking group also conspired to possess firearms to further their drug distribution. Members of the group were heard on the wiretap talking about exchanging drugs for firearms.

“The defendants in this indictment allegedly engaged in a wide range of criminal conduct – pressing narcotic pills for distribution, trafficking firearms and switches to make them machine guns, using those guns to settle scores with rival gangsters,” said First Assistant United States Attorney Neil Floyd. “Ringleader Kevin Salgado allegedly distributed the pills he manufactured in western Washington and across the country through the mail. So far three overdose deaths have been connected to Salgado’s activity.”

“Together with our Homeland Security Task Force, we’ve struck a major blow against violent crime—dismantling a dangerous criminal enterprise and making our communities safer,” said Homeland Security Investigations Seattle acting Special Agent in Charge April Miller. “HSI is relentless in taking down transnational criminal organizations, seizing their drugs, removing their guns, cutting off their money, and bringing their members to justice. Protecting our neighborhoods from illicit activity remains our top priority.”

In addition to Salgado, these defendants are indicted in the case:

Haley Filler, 30, of Puyallup, Washington

Gabriel Tovar, 29, Puyallup, Washington

Kevin Andreas, 28, Puyallup, Washington

Joshua Bailey, 30, University Place, Washington

Tyson Latchie, 28, University Place, Washington

Kahlil Bland, 29, Tacoma

Ian Newman, 29, Yucaipa, California

Edgar Adrian Hernandez, 26, Yamhill, Oregon

Isaac Briones, 24, Sunnyside, Washington

Roman Jackson, 25, Lakewood, Washington

Geeneva Morandarte, 26, Lakewood, Washington

Christian Ericson, 26, Tacoma

Michelle Ford-Jackson, 50, Olympia, Washington

Each of the defendants had different involvement in the drug and gun conspiracy. For example, in March 2025, law enforcement executed a search warrant on the Auburn residence of Gabriel Tovar after seeing social media posts showing him holding high-powered firearms with extended magazines and machinegun conversion switches. Agents seized 11 firearms. Five of them were stolen. They also seized a total of 9 machinegun conversion devices.

Some of the defendants were involved in hacking into drug distribution companies and rerouting shipments of controlled substances so they could sell them on the streets. Searches of iCloud accounts and phones associated with members of the organization indicated Newman and Bland were diverting shipments to an address in Lynnwood, Washington, and later conspired to do the same in Florida.

And another of the defendants allegedly paid kickbacks to a pharmacist in Oregon for filling fake prescriptions for oxycodone and other narcotics. In June 2025, Isaac Briones was arrested in Davenport, Washington where he was picking up a fraudulent prescription of promethazine and codeine.

In all, up until the searches Wednesday, law enforcement seized 38 firearms (nine of which had machinegun conversion devices) and seven were stolen firearms. A lengthy list of narcotics has been recovered including more than four kilograms of methamphetamine, more than two kilos of Phenazepam and seven kilograms of counterfeit oxycodone pills.

On Wednesday alone law enforcement seized 39 firearms and more than 100 “Glock switches” – a part designed to turn a semi-automatic firearm into a machinegun. Law enforcement also seized approximately 887.9 grams of fentanyl pills; 924 grams of fentanyl powder, 355.3 grams of methamphetamine, 557.6 grams of cocaine; 3.5 kilograms of counterfeit oxycodone pills; 236.2 grams of oxycodone pills; and 268.8 grams of Xanax pills.

“DEA will aggressively target anyone who traffics drugs, diverts controlled substances, or uses guns to fuel criminal activity,” said Robert A. Saccone, Special Agent in Charge, DEA Seattle Field Division. “This Tacoma street gang flooded our communities with fentanyl, meth, cocaine, and stolen prescription drugs while arming themselves with stolen firearms and Glock switches. DEA will continue working shoulder to shoulder with our federal, state, and local partners to dismantle violent drug trafficking organizations and hold those responsible accountable for the harm they inflict on our communities as we build a Fentanyl Free America and save American lives.”

“This operation and its results are a prime example of what’s possible when agencies collaborate,” said ATF Seattle Field Division Special Agent in Charge Jonathan Blais. “But this type of teamwork is not an anomaly. Every single day, ATF special agents and our law enforcement partners work tirelessly to prevent violent criminals from obtaining and using weapons that put lives at risk, and ATF will continue to work alongside our federal, state, and local partners to identify, investigate, and prosecute these offenders and their organizations.”

“Narcotics are destroying lives and devastating communities across the region. Every gram, every pill, and every sale of these drugs has the potential to ruin lives,” said Inspector in Charge Anthony Galetti, U.S. Postal Inspection Service, Seattle Division. “Postal inspectors remain committed to working with our law enforcement partners to stop the flow of these deadly drugs through the mail and hold criminals who profit from poisoning our neighborhoods accountable.”

“It’s always a win to get illegal drugs and guns off our streets. Our friends and neighbors are safer today due to the extraordinary efforts of our agents and of our law enforcement partners,” said Special Agent in Charge Carrie Nordyke, IRS Criminal Investigation (IRS-CI), Seattle Field Office. “We celebrate our success today, but we know that there’s much work to be done. Together, we are committed to making a continued difference by combatting drug trafficking and the violence that comes with it.”

The charges contained in the indictment are only allegations.  A person is presumed innocent unless and until he or she is proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.

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. 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.

This investigation is being led by Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), with key participation by United States Postal Inspection Service (USPIS), Internal Revenue Service (IRS) Criminal Investigation (CI), Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) Special Agents and Diversion Investigators, Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), Tacoma Police Department (TPD), Seattle Police Department (SPD).

During the investigation special assistance was provided by Department of State (DoS) Diplomatic Security Service (DSS), United States Marshal Service (USMS), Thurston County Sheriff’s Office, Spokane Police Department (SPD), Centralia Police Department (CPD), Northwest HIDTA.

On the day search and arrest warrants were served, these additional agencies provided support: Naval Criminal Investigative Service (NCIS), United States Army Criminal Investigation Division (CID), Pierce County Sheriff’s Office, Washington State Patrol (WSP), Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), San Bernardino County, California, Probation Department.

The case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Elyne Vaught and Michael Harder.

Tacoma – A 32-year-old La Center, Washington, man was sentenced today in U.S. District Court in Tacoma to ten years in prison and 15 years of supervised release for his scheme to access multiple teens’ private photos by posing as a Snapchat tech support person. Dylan Rex pleaded guilty in August 2025 to seven counts of Wire Fraud; seven counts of Computer Fraud; one count of Possession of Child Pornography; and one count of Attempted Enticement of a Minor. Rex was taken into custody at sentencing to being serving his prison term. Chief U.S. District Judge David G. Estudillo told him, “For three years, you were acting like a creature. In the end, your behavior caused unimaginable pain for the victims.”

“This defendant is the dangerous stranger lurking on the Internet that every parent fears,” said First Assistant U.S. Attorney Neil Floyd. “And he made the deception even worse by posing as tech support to get access to private images. I commend the cyber investigators at the FBI for bringing him to justice.”

“For several years, Mr. Rex deceived his victims by pretending to provide security for their social media accounts. Instead, he used his ill-gotten access to those accounts to steal their personal photos and videos, which he then circulated on the internet,” said W. Mike Herrington, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI Seattle field office. “Even worse, he offered payment to the mother of a child under the age of 10 to sexually abuse the minor child, film that abuse, and send him the imagery. When law enforcement searched Mr. Rex's residence, they uncovered media depicting the mother abusing her minor child along with hundreds of images of child sexual abuse material on multiple devices. He had gone on to distribute some of these images online, inflicting further damage on the victims each time he did. The FBI and our partners will continue to pursue child predators and those who victimize others through the internet so they can be held accountable for their harmful actions.”

According to records filed in the case, between July 2020 and March 2023, Rex defrauded over 170 victims of their private and intimate photos and videos stored in their Snapchat accounts. He would use false phone numbers and false email addresses that made it appear he was a member of the Snapchat tech support team. He would trigger a password reset message to the victim and then ask the victim to provide the six-digit code to assist them in getting back into their account. Once the victim gave up the code Rex locked them out of their account and stole the images he wanted. Many of the images and videos he stole he circulated on the internet, leading to harassment and extortion of the victims.

On March 29, 2023, law enforcement searched Rex’s residence and seized several digital devices. In all agents found more than 600 images of child sexual abuse material on eight different devices.

“What Dylan Rex did was calculated, cruel, and downright depraved. He impersonated a member of Snapchat’s customer support, targeted over 170 victims’ accounts across the country, and stole their photos which were later weaponized against them. To make matters worse, he possessed and distributed child sexual abuse material and even went as far as enticing a young mother into sexually abusing her own child, and documenting that abuse for his own sick gratification,” said Ted E. Docks, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI’s Boston Division. “With today’s sentence, he’s been held accountable for his crimes, and will be locked away, where he can’t victimize anyone else.”

In asking for the ten-year sentence and 15 years of supervised release prosecutors wrote to the court, “Rex’s sole purpose of hacking into the victims’ Snapchat accounts was to hunt for intimate and sexually suggestive photographs and/or videos of young women that he would in turn share or trade on the internet. Although Rex may not have participated directly in the harassment and intimidation of these victims using their stolen imagery, he undoubtedly contributed to it. His actions created a living nightmare for many of these victims.”

The search of Rex’s devices led to one state court conviction as well.  On October 16, 2025, Rex was sentenced to 90 days in custody after pleading guilty to two counts of Voyeurism in Clark County Superior Court. In that case, Rex photographed and filmed victims, including minors, without their knowledge or consent. Rex used a recording device that he placed in a bathroom to capture these images.

The case was investigated by the FBI. The case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Elyne M. Vaught.  

Seattle – A 67-year-old Skagit County, Washington, man was sentenced today in U.S. District Court in Seattle to six months in federal prison for making Interstate threats against two different U.S Congressmen and their staffs, announced First Assistant U.S. Attorney Charles Neil Floyd. In March 2025, Bradley Whaley repeatedly called the offices of congresspeople in Washington DC, leaving threats on voicemail as well as directly with staffers. At the sentencing hearing U.S. District Judge Jamal N. Whitehead said, “Mr. Whaley made multiple threatening calls to offices of two U.S. Representatives…  This was part of a dangerous pattern that if left unchecked threatens the democratic process.”

According to records filed in the case in March 2025, Whaley made multiple calls to two different DC offices threatening to kill the congresspeople and their staff. Whaley referenced his second amendment rights and threatened to slit their throats. Whaley left his name and phone number in the voice messages.

Whaley was arrested on March 21, 2025, at the downtown Seattle location where he worked. In the center console of his vehicle was a loaded handgun.

Whaley pleaded guilty on October 31, 2025.

In asking for a one-year sentence, prosecutors noted the incredible increase in threats to members of congress writing, “… over the last several years, there has been an alarming surge in the number of similar threat cases against members of congress, their families, and staff.  The number of threat cases increased from 7,501 cases in 2022, to 8,008 cases in 2023, and to 9,747 cases in 2024, according to the United States Capitol Police. In 2025, the number of threat cases investigated by USCPS jumped to about 14,000.”

In his letter to the court, Brad Whaley blamed the threatening phone calls on heavy alcohol abuse. His attorney noted that Whaley has since completed treatment.

Judge Whitehead ordered that he complete three years of supervised release following the prison term.

The case was investigated by the U.S. Capitol Police and the FBI.

The case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Rachel Yemini.

Seattle – A 44-year-old former Laguna Niguel, California resident was sentenced today in U.S. District Court in Seattle to 18 months in prison for wire fraud for his scheme to steal nearly $1 million from his employer, announced First Assistant U.S. Attorney Charles Neil Floyd. Paul Joseph Welch was the IT manager of a Kent, Washington energy manufacturing company when he used various schemes to steal more than $950,000 from the company. At the sentencing hearing U.S. District Judge Jamal N. Whitehead said, “This was not a crime of desperation. You used the funds to support a lifestyle you could not afford.”

“Mr. Welch stole nearly $1 million from his company to pay for luxuries such as expensive hotel stays, first class airline tickets, and even a Porsche for his wife as a Mother’s Day gift,” said First Assistant U.S. Attorney Neil Floyd. “His theft caused the company to cut staff, reduce or cancel bonuses, and delay projects. These impacts justify this prison term.”

According to records in the case, Welch worked for the company from 2011 to 2024. He was promoted to Information Technology Manager in 2018. As early as 2017, Welch used the company’s Amazon business account to make unauthorized personal purchases from Amazon.com. Between 2017 and 2023, those purchases totaled at least $43,000. Welch primarily purchased electronics such as televisions, laptops and more—all for personal use. In 2019, Welch began using his company credit card for personal purchases through other online retailers such as Apple, Alaska Airlines, Instacart, and BestBuy. Between 2019 and 2024, those unauthorized personal purchases totaled at least an additional $60,000.

The scheme really accelerated in January 2021 when Welch began making payments to himself disguised as payments to a computer services company. Welch created a series of email addresses and payment processor accounts using a business name that was very similar to a legitimate computer services company based in Washington State. Welch then used the company credit cards to pay the computer services company under the guise that the company was providing IT equipment and services to the victim company.  However, the legitimate computer services company had no relationship with Welch and never provided any services or equipment to the victim company. The credit card payments Welch made went directly to the payment processor accounts that Welch controlled. Between 2021 and 2024 Welch used this scheme to transfer approximately $879,175 from company accounts to his own accounts.

The victim company tried to verify the legitimacy of Welch’s activity on multiple occasions, but each time, Welch provided false or misleading information to cover up his scheme. When Welch was asked to submit invoices to substantiate his charges, he emailed phony documents designed to look like invoices from the legitimate computer services company. At one point in 2023, an accounting employee at the victim company identified personal purchases on Welch’s company credit card. Welch claimed the charges were inadvertent and said he would repay the company. Welch never repaid the charges and continued to defraud the company through unauthorized personal purchases and more fake vendor charges.

On January 19, 2024, company employees confronted Welch about the charges from the computer services company accounts that Welch controlled. After Welch again claimed that the vendor was a real vendor for the company, the company fired him.

In all, between 2017 and January 2024 Welch secretly made at least 250 fraudulent charges for the third-party vendor he controlled. He made at least 140 unauthorized purchases with retailers using the company credit card and at least 100 fraudulent purchases on the company’s Amazon account. While Welch profited some $950,000 from his theft, the loss to the victim company was approximately $982,520 due to various fees on the transactions.

“As an information technology manager, Mr. Welch held a position of trust with his employer which allowed him access to business accounts and the company credit card," said W. Mike Herrington, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI Seattle field office. "Welch betrayed that trust by stealing almost $1 million from the company through years of fraudulent transactions for his own personal gain. Despite being confronted about his illicit expenditures multiple times, Welch disguised his schemes with false documents or by saying he didn’t intend to make the charges. When such theft occurs, the FBI diligently follows the money to ensure fraudsters are held accountable for their crimes.”

Welch agreed to make full restitution to the company.

The case was investigated by the FBI. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Dane A. Westermeyer.

Seattle – The first of some 20 defendants charged with trafficking narcotics in Seattle’s homeless encampments and International District was sentenced today in U.S. District Court to 30 months in prison, announced First Assistant U.S. Attorney Charles Neil Floyd. Theodore Nation, 36, has been in custody since January 2025. At the sentencing hearing U.S. District Judge Tana Lin said, Nation had been dealing “to particularly vulnerable and marginalized members of the community.”

“This drug trafficking organization sold addictive substances to some of the most marginalized members of our community – those living in homeless encampments such as “The Jungle” under Interstate 5,” said First Assistant U.S. Attorney Neil Floyd. “This defendant made his living feeding the addiction of others making it ever more difficult for them to get out of the danger of homeless encampments.”

“As a redistributor, Mr. Nation had a significant role in the Jungle Drug Trafficking Organization which sold dangerous drugs in the homeless encampments near the International District and I-5," said W. Mike Herrington, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI Seattle field office. “This organization and others like it fuel the fentanyl crisis in the United States with drugs that all too often prove fatal. FBI Seattle remains committed to working with our partners to combat drug trafficking and violent crime in Seattle and across the state of Washington.”

“In Seattle, our fight for a Fentanyl Free America is not abstract — it’s on the streets,” said Robert A. Saccone, Special Agent in Charge, DEA Seattle Field Division. “The fentanyl powder alone seized from this group contained more than 1.7 million potentially lethal doses.  Mr. Nation trafficked fentanyl and other deadly drugs in and around our homeless encampments and preyed on the most vulnerable in our community. The DEA, alongside our federal and local partners, is committed to using every enforcement tool at our disposal to shut down fentanyl supply chains, protect public safety, and save lives in Seattle and across the nation.”

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. In the first round of arrests and indictments in January 2025, 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.

During the January arrest operation, law enforcement seized 17 firearms and 23 kilos of suspected fentanyl powder.

A second round of indictments and arrests occurred in late May 2025. In this part of the investigation, in March 2025 alone, law enforcement seized 100 pounds of methamphetamine, 111 kilos of cocaine, 19 kilos of fentanyl powder, 250,000 fentanyl pills, and four kilos of heroin. The street value of the narcotics was nearly $3 million.

In their sentencing memo asking for a 57-month sentence for Nation prosecutors noted the deadly toll of fentanyl. “According to the King County Medical Examiner’s Office, 167 people died of fentanyl-involved overdoses in King County in 2020. By 2023, the number of fentanyl-involved overdoses in King County rose to 1,086.2 Although the number of fentanyl-involved overdoses peaked in 2023 in King County, in 2024 there were still 788 fentanyl-involved overdoses and in 2025 there were still 696 fentanyl-involved overdoses.”

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.

The case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Casey Conzatti and Brian Wynne.

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. 

Seattle – A 29-year-old Deering, Alaska man was sentenced today in U.S. District Court in Seattle to 18 months in prison for abusive sexual contact on board an aircraft, announced First Assistant U.S. Attorney Charles Neil Floyd. Trayton C. Ballot was arrested on January 15, 2025, when the Alaska Airlines flight he was on arrived at Seattle-Tacoma International airport. Ballot was convicted by a jury on September 10, 2025, following a two-day trial.  At the sentencing hearing U.S. District Judge John H. Chun said, “This is a serious and scary crime with lasting consequences for the victim.”

“The Western District of Washington has received a significant number of reported sexual assaults on aircraft in the last several years,” said First Assistant U.S. Attorney Neil Floyd. “This sentence should serve as a warning to others who think they can take advantage of a plane’s environment to abuse vulnerable victims. We will take these cases, and take them to trial if necessary, to get justice for victims.”

According to records filed in the case, the 17-year-old victim was flying with her mother and a friend on an overnight flight from Anchorage to Seattle. Ballot was seated in the middle seat in a row near the back of the plane. The victim was in the window seat. Ballot appeared to be asleep but then moved his hand onto the victim’s inner thigh and began rubbing her thigh. The victim, who was asleep, woke up to the touching and removed Ballot’s hand. Two more times Ballot moved his hand onto the 17-year-old’s inner thigh, and she removed his hand. After the third time, the victim lowered her tray table and wedged a stuffed animal under it to protect her lap. Despite those barriers, Ballot moved his hand under the armrest and attempted to place it over the victim’s thigh. The victim pressed down on the stuffed animal to stop the assault and Ballot took his hand away.

The victim typed into her phone that the man seated next to her had touched her and showed the message to her mother who was seated in the row behind her. At her mother’s instruction, the victim notified the flight attendants who moved her to a different seat.

Ballot was arrested when the plane arrived in Seattle.

Speaking in court today, the victim said she was “trapped in a small place where I could not defend myself…. It was predatory – attacking me while I was asleep.”

In asking for a two-year prison sentence prosecutors noted that the unique qualities of air travel require additional vigilance, and a deterrence message. “Sexual assaults on airplanes are a distressingly prevalent risk of modern airline travel…. In several ways, a plane is a uniquely vulnerable environment: passengers are often seated in close proximity to strangers, with little room and few options for removing themselves from unwanted situations; passengers regularly attempt to sleep on planes while sitting next to unknown persons; and outside of a passenger’s immediate neighbors, there is limited visibility and a low likelihood of witnesses, particularly when cabin lights are dimmed.”

Judge Chun ordered Ballot to complete 10 years of supervised release following prison.

“I commend the bravery displayed by this underage victim, and her mother, in speaking up for her safety by reporting this crime to the flight crew," said W. Mike Herrington, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI Seattle field office. "Sexual misconduct aboard aircraft is a federal crime, one the FBI investigates and takes seriously. We encourage victims and witnesses to report such crimes to the flight crew; Port of Seattle Police or your local airport police; and the FBI at 1-800-CALL-FBI (225-5324) or tips.fbi.gov.”

The case was investigated by the FBI with assistance from the Port of Seattle Police.

The case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Carolyn Forstein and Cindy Chang.

Seattle – One of the leaders of an armed robbery crew that carried out a series of home invasion robberies in 2022, today pleaded guilty to racketeering and conspiracy to commit RICO (Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act), announced U.S. Attorney Charles Neil Floyd.  Christopher Johnson, 24, faces up to life in prison when sentenced by U.S. District Judge Lauren King on May 6, 2026. Under the terms of the plea agreement, both the prosecution and defense will recommend a 25-year prison term.

According to the plea agreement, Johnson admits he was involved in a pattern of violent crimes allegedly committed by codefendant Kevin Thissel, 29, and their co-conspirators. The plea agreement describes how in the summer of 2022, the men targeted certain families for robberies. To create a climate of fear, the robbery crew burst into homes in the middle of the night, dressed in black, claiming to be police, and with guns drawn. They wore masks and used zip-ties to restrain the victims – including children as young as nine. They would steal any valuables they could ransack from these homes. Tragically, they shot and killed one young mother as her 7-year-old child lay next to her in bed.

Each member of the robbery crew had a certain job: identifying potential victims based on social media posts about their wealth or collections; surveilling the target homes; serving as a driver; kicking in the door; corralling the family; holding the victims at gunpoint; and ransacking the homes for valuables. Some of those participating in this violent robbery scheme were juveniles.

The crimes admitted in the Johnson plea agreement include:

• May 24, 2022, the armed robbery of a family in Mount Vernon, Washington.
• May 24, 2022, the kidnapping of a young boy in connection with the Mount Vernon robbery.
• May 24, 2022, attempted robbery on Mercer Island – one robber fired a gun but did not hit one of three victims inside the house.
• May 27, 2022, burglary of an unoccupied Kent, Washington residence.
• June 19, 2022, the attempted burglary of an occupied residence in Kent. One of the residents fired at the robbery crew causing them to flee
• July 14, 2022, the armed robbery of a couple in Burien, Washington.
• July 28, 2022, the armed robbery of a woman in Kent, Washington.
• July 28,2022, the abduction of the victim in the Kent robbery to force her to obtain cash from ATMs.
• August 12, 2022, the robbery of two Kent residents who were locked in a closet while their home was ransacked.
• August 19, 2022, the Everett armed robbery of a couple and their child.
• August 19, 2022, the murder of one of the Everett robbery victims.

Some of the criminal acts described in the plea agreement have not been formally charged. They can be considered by the judge in determining the sentence and for purposes of restitution.

Under the terms of the plea agreement, Johnson will plead guilty to second degree murder in Snohomish County Superior Court for the August 19, 2022, fatal shooting of Irah Marcello Sok. Both sides will also recommend a 25-year sentence to run concurrent with the federal sentence. Johnson is asking that the judge recommend he serve his sentence in the Washington State Prison system. However, Judge King can decide whether or not to make that recommendation.

The case is being investigated by the FBI with significant assistance from the Snohomish County Sheriff’s Office, the Mount Vernon Police Department, the Kent Police Department, and the King County Sheriff’s Office.

Assistant United States Attorneys Todd Greenberg and Brian Wynne are prosecuting the case. Former Assistant United States Attorneys Stephen Hobbs and Michael Lang worked closely with the Snohomish County Prosecutors Office on investigating and charging this case. 

Seattle – A 36-year-old former anesthesiology resident at Seattle Children’s Hospital and Harborview and University of Washington Medical Centers was sentenced today in U.S. District Court in Seattle to one year of supervised release including 200 hours of community service for diverting narcotic pain medication to his own use while treating patients, announced U.S. Attorney Charles Neil Floyd. Andrew Voegel-Podadera, of Seattle, was arrested in June 2025 and charged with obtaining controlled substances by fraud. Voegel-Podadera pleaded guilty in October 2025, admitting he secretly took fentanyl, hydromorphone, and other medications over the course of a year while working in the UW Medicine system. He sometimes used the diverted substances while still at the hospital, meaning he was under the influence of potent narcotics while treating patients.

At today’s sentencing hearing U.S. District Judge Kymberly K. Evanson said, “This was a serious offense… the consequences of which could have been more serious and tragic.”

“This defendant was entrusted with caring for patients, including young and vulnerable patients,” said U.S. Attorney Neil Floyd. “It is chilling to think that he took powerful narcotics while a tiny baby needed his full and unimpaired attention. This case should serve as a message that nobody is above the law and healthcare professionals will be held accountable when they divert narcotics and put patients in harm’s way.” 

According to records filed in the case, between 2022 and 2024, Voegel-Podadera worked as a resident anesthesiologist. He did rotations at Seattle Children’s Hospital, Harborview Medical Center, and the UW Medical Center. On December 27, 2024, Voegel-Podadera saw three patients at Children’s – the youngest was just 11-days old. From the beginning of his shift, Voegel-Podadera began stealing and using pain medications that were meant for patients. He consumed fentanyl and hydromorphone and then returned the vials to the pharmacy with saline in them, claiming it was “wastage.”

Fortunately, the attending physician found his behavior odd and reported it to others at Children’s. Ultimately, Voegel-Podadera admitted stealing and taking drugs while on duty as far back as January 2024.

In asking that Voegel-Podadera do prison time, prosecutors wrote to the court, “Anesthesiologists administer precise doses of potent medications and perform delicate procedures like intubations…. Voegel-Podadera’s behavior put [his patients] at risk. An intoxicated doctor is far more likely to make mistakes, and mistakes in this setting can be costly.”

“Dr. Voegel-Podadera selfishly diverted powerful pain medication away from patients, including young children and infants, while he worked as an anesthesiologist at Seattle Children’s Hospital,” said Robert A. Saccone, Special Agent in Charge, DEA Seattle Field Division. “Dr. Voegel-Podadera violated both his oath and the law. We are proud that DEA and our partners could stop him from endangering young patients. DEA remains unwavering in our commitment to saving American lives.”

“The diversion of controlled substances by medical professionals is a serious breach of public trust and patient safety,” said Special Agent in Charge Robert Iwanicki, FDA Office of Criminal Investigations Los Angeles Field Office. “The defendant’s actions not only violated federal law but also placed vulnerable pediatric patients at risk. The FDA is committed to protecting the integrity of our healthcare system and ensuring that patients receive the safe and effective medications they deserve.”

Voegel-Podadera’s attorney said the consequences for the former physician have been significant: he was terminated from the anesthesiology training program, had to surrender his DEA registration that allowed him to prescribe medications, and has had his medical license surrendered for at least five years.

Speaking to the court Voegel-Podadera said he wished he had sought help for his addiction earlier. He has been speaking to groups of medical residents about the danger of addiction.

The case was investigated by the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) and Food and Drug Administration - Office of Criminal Investigations (FDA-OCI).

The case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Philip Kopczynski and Amanda McDowell.

Tacoma – A 38-year-old Grays Harbor County, Washington, man was sentenced today in U.S. District Court in Tacoma to ten years in prison for two counts of possession of controlled substances with intent to distribute, announced U.S. Attorney Charles Neil Floyd. Gabriel Armas was on federal supervised release for a prior conviction for heroin and methamphetamine trafficking when he was arrested for again distributing narcotics. After he was incarcerated at the Federal Detention Center at SeaTac, he again distributed heroin, resulting in the overdose death of another inmate. At the sentencing hearing today U.S. District Judge Benjamin H. Settle said, “There can hardly be any offenses more serious than one that resulted in the death of (the victim), which happened here. And it happened in what was supposed to be a safe environment. The FDC is supposed to be safe, but it wasn’t safe for (the victim) because you made the decision to introduce drugs into this environment and as a result someone who was loved by his family died.”

“A federal arrest and incarceration can be the first step towards getting clean and sober, but not when other inmates scheme to deal drugs while imprisoned,” said U.S. Attorney Neil Floyd. “In this case a family was touched by tragedy when their son died of an overdose caused by this defendant. It is a priority for our office to prosecute cases of contraband in jails and prisons.”

According to records in the case, on November 14, 2023, Armas was found slumped over the wheel of a car in a parking lot in Ocean Shores, Washington. When an officer knocked on the window, Armas drove away at a high rate of speed. Law enforcement stopped the pursuit due to Armas’ reckless driving.

The car Armas was driving got stuck on a bridge that had not been designed for vehicle traffic and the bridge collapsed. Armas left the area, but a drug detecting dog found things he had abandoned in the area such as baggies containing fentanyl pills, fentanyl powder, and crystal methamphetamine. They also found identity cards in Armas’ name.

A few days later, Armas was found in the area where the car was abandoned and was booked into the Federal Detention Center. Initially he was booked for violating conditions of his federal supervision for a 2014 drug trafficking conviction. Armas was housed in the Special Housing Unit (SHU) on the night of November 19, 2023. On the morning of November 20, 2023, the person sharing the cell with Armas was found unresponsive and died despite lifesaving efforts. An autopsy revealed the man died from acute heroin, olanzapine, and mirtazapine intoxication.

On November 23, 2023, authorities found heroin hidden in Armas’ cell. It was wrapped in a jailhouse note offering heroin for sale to inmates. A few weeks later more heroin was found in the top of a pill bottle in Armas’ cell. On January 25, 2024, Armas admitted to another inmate that he made money selling heroin to other inmates and that his cellmate overdosed and died from the heroin. Armas said he swallowed some of the heroin to hide it from staff after his cellmate’s overdose.

“In the space of just over a week, Mr. Armas’s series of reckless actions contributed to his cellmate’s overdose death; endangered the community by fleeing law enforcement at high speed; and collapsed a bridge not designed for vehicles during that pursuit,” said W. Mike Herrington, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI Seattle field office. “He has clearly not learned his lesson from his last drug trafficking conviction, as he was also found to have fentanyl and heroin in his vehicle and prison cell. This sentence holds Mr. Armas accountable for his dangerous conduct and sends a message to all would-be drug traffickers: the FBI and our partners take these crimes seriously.”

In asking for a ten-year sentence prosecutors wrote to the court, “By selling drugs in the FDC, Armas demonstrated a complete disregard for the safety of other incarcerated individuals, many of whom have significant addiction issues that have contributed to their being detained. By aiming to provide drugs to other inmates, Armas took advantage of a captive clientele of drug users, many of whom were likely in the process of withdrawal due to their incarceration, rendering them more vulnerable to the harmful effects of opioids.”

Armas was ordered to be on supervised release for eight years following prison.

The case was investigated by the FBI with assistance from the Ocean Shores Police Department and Grays Harbor Sheriff’s Office.

The case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Max Shiner.

Seattle – A 25-year-old Seattle man was convicted today in U.S. District Court in Seattle for multiple counts of carjacking and using a firearm in a crime of violence, announced U.S. Attorney Charles Neil Floyd. Maar Teng Rambang was convicted of three counts of carjacking and three counts of using a firearm during a crime of violence for the November 7, 2022, King County-wide crime spree. The jury deliberated about an hour following a four-day jury trial. U.S. District Judge John C. Chun will schedule sentencing at a future date.

According to records filed in the case, the carjacking spree stretched from Kent, to Bellevue, to Redmond, to Seattle and ultimately back to Renton. Just before noon on November 7, 2022, Rambang confronted a woman sitting in her car outside the Kent East Hill Post Office. Rambang ordered the woman out of her car at gunpoint. Rambang drove the stolen car to the Bellevue Square Mall garage and fired his gun as he threatened another woman and demanded her vehicle. He drove that stolen BMW to Redmond and attempted to rob Amazon employees working at a delivery locker at a Whole Foods Market. Rambang then drove the BMW to the Eastlake neighborhood of Seattle where he shot a man in the leg and stole his Jeep SUV.

Officers tracked the Jeep to Kent and attempted to stop and arrest Rambang, but he fled at speeds of 90-100 miles per hour in areas of heavy traffic.  Rambang drove in center turn lanes, through gas station parking lots and ran red lights. Ultimately, law enforcement in Renton was able to block the car and arrest Rambang.

In closing arguments Assistant United States Attorney Todd Greenberg said, “The victims were everyday people trying to do everyday things…. The defendant’s crime spree turned these everyday things into nightmares for the victims.”

Carjacking is punishable by up to 25 years in prison. Using a firearm in connection with a crime of violence is punishable by a mandatory minimum ten years in prison and up to life in prison.

The case was investigated by the Kent, Bellevue, Redmond, and Seattle Police Departments with the assistance of the Bureau of Alcohol, Firearms, Tobacco & Explosives (ATF).

The case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Todd Greenberg and Rachel Yemini.

Seattle –A Tacoma man who continued to distribute large amounts of fentanyl pills even after being found with a large load of methamphetamine was sentenced today in U.S. District Court in Seattle to 66 months in prison, announced U.S. Attorney Charles Neil Floyd. Rogelio Pena, 22, is one of thirteen people who was indicted in the case in May 2024. The 18-month wiretap investigation revealed that Pena was a trusted member of the conspiracy both for delivering drugs and for having access to the group’s stash house. At sentencing U.S. District Judge Kymberly K. Evanson said, “This was a lot of drugs and a large conspiracy… The impact on the community is significant.”

“Whether riding with 28-pound load of methamphetamine, or attempting to deliver 20,000 fentanyl pills, this defendant did not let intervention by law enforcement stop him,” said U.S. Attorney Neil Floyd. “Those who deliver these poisons to our communities face significant time in prison.”

In the wiretap investigation law enforcement seized approximately 81 kilograms of methamphetamine, 49 kilograms of fentanyl pills, and 15 kilograms of cocaine. On June 28, 2023, Pena was a passenger in a vehicle stopped by law enforcement that contained more than 25

 pounds of methamphetamine. But even after this traffic stop, Pena was heard on the wiretap arranging the delivery of 20,000 fentanyl pills. Pena was so trusted by the drug trafficking organization that he managed the possession of keys to the storage area where the group kept its drug supply.

As more rental cars were stopped with drug loads on the way north, conspirators began bringing drugs to the Seattle area via bus. On April 11, 2024, the Portland Police Department seized 7.5 kilograms of fentanyl laced pills from a bag that had been abandoned at a bus station by one of the coconspirators. In early May 2024 law enforcement moved in and made arrests.

In asking for a 66-month sentence prosecutors wrote to the court, “Pena, along with his co-conspirators, were responsible for flooding these highly dangerous and addictive substances into the community for profit and contributed to the addiction of an unknown number of individuals. The drugs that Pena was peddling caused irreparable harm to the community in general as well as to the families whose members are addicted to controlled substances. During 2023, when Pena was actively engaged in drug trafficking, there was an overwhelming 1,340 fatal overdose deaths in King County alone.”

“This drug trafficking organization flooded the Pacific Northwest with fentanyl, methamphetamine, and cocaine,” said Robert A. Saccone, Special Agent in Charge, DEA Seattle Field Division. “The fentanyl alone seized in this case contained enough lethal doses to kill more than 200,000 people in Western Washington. The Drug Enforcement Administration is thankful to our Federal, state, and local partners who worked with us tirelessly on this case to help save American lives as we work together to make America Fentanyl Free.”

“Pena and his co-conspirators were caught trafficking kilogram quantities of illegal drugs into Washington state on multiple occasions in 2023 and 2024," said W. Mike Herrington, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI Seattle field office. "Today’s sentence holds Mr. Pena accountable for his role in this conspiracy that threatened our communities with dangerous drugs and high-powered firearms. FBI Seattle is grateful for the many federal, state, and local partners, including those in other states, who work with us to protect the people of the Pacific Northwest.”

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.

This case was investigated by the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), FBI, Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms & Explosives (ATF), Seattle Police Department, Oregon State Police, Portland Police Department, California Highway Patrol, the Los Angeles Strike Force, U.S. Customs and Border Protection, and Centralia Police Department.

This case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Casey Conzatti and Elyne Vaught.

Tacoma –A 20-year-old member of the Makah Tribe was sentenced today in U.S. District Court in Tacoma to two years in prison for assaulting an intimate partner with a knife, announced U.S. Attorney Charles Neil Floyd. Peyton Blaise Watson stabbed his intimate partner in the neck while on property within the Lower Elwha Klallam Reservation. At the sentencing hearing U.S. District Judge Tiffany M. Cartwright said, the assault was “violent and extremely dangerous…” The victim “was stabbed in the neck in a fit of rage that was uncontrolled. It was not due to care or avoidance of more serious injury, but really only a matter of luck that we are not here today on a much more serious charge.”

“This case exemplifies our commitment to addressing crime on tribal lands – especially violent crime against vulnerable victims,” said U.S. Attorney Neil Floyd. “This was a shocking and unprovoked assault that easily could have been fatal. A term of incarceration will serve to protect the public and the victim. I hope that time in custody will give Watson an opportunity to reform his behavior.”

According to records filed in the case, in the early morning hours of May 9, 2025, Lower Elwha Police and Clallam County Sheriff’s Deputies responded to a home on the Lower Elwha Klallam Reservation where a witness called 911 to report that Watson had stabbed an adult female victim in the neck. Officers found the victim standing a few feet from Watson. Once Watson was removed from the victim’s presence, she began crying and identified Watson as her assailant and that he had stabbed her in the neck. The victim was taken by ambulance to Olympic Medical Center in Port Angeles where she required surgery. Watson was booked into the Clallam County Jail on tribal charges. He has been in custody since the assault.

The FBI joined the investigation and secured items of evidence from the scene including a black folding knife about three inches long, an item identified by the victim and witness as the weapon.

The victim was hospitalized for five days as she recovered from her injuries. At the hospital she was able to describe for investigators how Watson attacked her and allegedly threatened to kill her.

In asking for a sentence at the low end of the sentencing guidelines range, prosecutors wrote to the court, “Crafting a sentencing recommendation in this case is difficult, because Watson easily could have killed [the victim] when he stabbed her in the neck with a deadly weapon. However, this appears to be an isolated incident of extreme violence. Prior to nearly killing [the victim], Watson was not known to be violent. Moreover, at the time of the offense he was (and is) quite young and had no criminal history.”

Watson will be on three years of federal supervision including mental health monitoring and drug treatment following his prison term.

The case was investigated by the FBI and the Lower Elwha Klallam Police Department.

The case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Celia Lee. Ms. Lee serves as a Tribal Liaison for the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Western District of Washington. 

Seattle – A 40-year-old Everett, Washington man was sentenced today in U.S. District Court in Seattle to six years in prison, announced U.S. Attorney Charles Neil Floyd. Lamin Saho, aka “Buck,” was a significant fentanyl dealer identified in a wiretap investigation that culminated with fourteen arrests in October 2024 and five additional arrests in late 2025. The drug trafficking ring operated from Kent to Everett and members of the ring frequented two distribution locations in the University District of Seattle. Many of the drug traffickers were armed when guarding their stash or distributing their drugs. The leader of the drug crew was gunned down in the summer of 2024, in front of one of the U District locations. At the sentencing hearing Judge John H. Chun said, “Fentanyl is a dangerous drug that has devastated far too many lives. One has only to walk out on the streets of Seattle to see how it has devastated our community.”

“Mr. Saho distributed thousands of fentanyl pills – the calls recorded on the wiretap indicated he had access to as many as 10,000 pills at a time,” said U.S. Attorney Floyd. “Each one of those pills had the potential of killing the user. Our community is safer when we are able to prosecute these drug trafficking rings and get the suppliers behind bars.”

“Homeland Security Investigations, working closely with our law enforcement partners, led the investigation that brought Saho to justice and indictments for 18 others,” said HSI Seattle acting Special Agent in Charge April Miller. “Together, we are combatting the lethal effects of fentanyl in our communities by identifying, disrupting, and dismantling dangerous networks. Garnering this sentence for one of the defendants in this case shows our commitment to protecting the public and fighting violent crime at every level.”

“Drug trafficking and gun violence go hand in hand, and this case highlights the unfortunate reality, peddling deadly fentanyl and weapons in Seattle’s University District posed a clear and present danger to the entire community,” said Robert A. Saccone, Special Agent in Charge, DEA Seattle Field Division. “The collaborative efforts of our federal prosecutors along with our local, state, and federal law enforcement partners resulted in the dismantlement of this drug trafficking organization and brought us one step closer towards making America Fentanyl Free. DEA is committed to protect the United States from synthetic opioids by disrupting the fentanyl supply chain, reducing its availability, and saving American lives.”

The month-long telephone intercepts of Saho’s phone revealed he was one of the most prolific distributors of fentanyl within the drug trafficking group. Even after law enforcement seized 5,000 pills from Saho in a traffic stop, wiretap intercepts show he was wholly undeterred and continued to traffic fentanyl through the end of the interception period.

In the yearlong investigation, law enforcement seized 200,000 fentanyl pills, four kilograms of cocaine, 60

 firearms, several Glock “switches,” multiple suppressors, and $250,000 in cash drug trafficking proceeds.

Members of the drug ring have been sentenced to prison terms ranging from four years to ten years.

Cooper Sherman, aka “Coop,” 28, of Seattle, who was a leader in the organization, was sentenced in November 2025 to ten years in prison for conspiracy to distribute fentanyl and possessing a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime.

Khaliil Ahmed, aka “Bossup,” 28, of Kent was sentenced in August 2025 to six years in prison for two counts of illegally possessing firearms. He was identified as a member of a drug trafficking conspiracy. He was injured in a fatal hookah bar shooting in South Seattle on August 20, 2023.

Yohannes Wondimagegnehu, aka “Jon,” 36, of Seattle was sentenced in August 2025 to six years in prison for conspiracy to distribute controlled substances and possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime. He helped staff an apartment on the edge of Seattle’s University District that was a known drug distribution location.

Dominique Sanders, 35, of Everett, who served as a redistributor in the organization, was sentenced in September 2025 to six years in prison for conspiracy to distribute fentanyl.

Jaquan Means, 46, of Bellevue, who brokered at least two fentanyl transactions, was sentenced in December 2025 to six years in prison for conspiracy to distribute fentanyl.

Oche Poston, 32, of Everett, who served as a runner for several fentanyl transactions and conducted other drug trafficking related activities at the direction of leaders within the organization, was sentenced in September 2025 to five and a half years in prison for conspiracy to distribute fentanyl.

Patrick Smith, 28, of Seattle, who served as a redistributor in the organization, was sentenced in August 2025 to four years in prison for conspiracy to distribute fentanyl.

Anteneh Tesfaye, 41, of Edmonds was sentenced in December 2025 to four years in prison for one count of illegally possessing a firearm. He was a drug redistributor who was supplied by one of the leaders of the drug trafficking organization.

At today’s sentencing Lamin Saho was ordered to serve four years of supervised release following his six-year prison term. However, he is a citizen of The Gambia who does not have immigration status in the U.S. and will likely be removed following his prison term.

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.

This investigation was led by Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), with significant participation by Seattle Police Department (SPD), Internal Revenue Service Criminal Investigation (IRS-CI), Washington State Patrol (WSP), FBI, Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) Office of Field Operations, Customs and Border Protection Air and Marine Operations, U.S. Border Patrol, the King County Sheriff’s Office, the Bellevue Police Department, U.S. Marshals Service (USMS), Everett Police Department, Renton Police Department, U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA), Washington State National Guard, Washington State Gambling Commission, Yakima County Law Enforcement Against Drugs (L.E.A.D) Narcotics and Gang Task Force, and Northwest High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area (HIDTA).

The case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Michelle Jensen and Joseph Silvio.

Seattle – Today the Western District of Washington observes National Human Trafficking Prevention Month and joins the Departments of Justice (DOJ) and Homeland Security (DHS) in reaffirming the administration’s commitment to combating all forms of human trafficking and protecting victims and survivors. Human Trafficking Prevention Month presents an opportunity for DHS and DOJ, through Homeland Security Task Forces (HSTF) to intensify operational efforts, raise public awareness, and strengthen partnerships across federal, state, and local agencies to disrupt trafficking networks, protect vulnerable individuals, and ensure traffickers are brought to justice.

“This Department of Justice is working tirelessly alongside our partners to dismantle human trafficking networks, help survivors, and protect vulnerable populations from being exploited,” said Attorney General Pamela Bondi. “Under this administration we have seen an increase in human trafficking prosecutions, and during Human Trafficking Prevention Month we reaffirm our commitment to prosecuting traffickers and encourage Americans to report instances of human trafficking in their communities.”

“Through the Homeland Security Task Force, President Trump is taking the fight directly to human trafficking networks and disrupting their modern-day slave trade while seizing their assets and arresting their kingpins and foot soldiers. The American people should not have to live in fear of cartels, gang bangers, and foreign terrorists preying upon the most vulnerable among us,” the United States Secretary of Homeland Security Kristi Noem said in a statement. “The Homeland Security Task Force is the largest coordinated campaign against transnational criminal organizations in U.S. history, and I’m proud to co-lead it with Attorney General Bondi.”

“During Human Trafficking Prevention Month, the FBI reiterates our work with local, state, and federal law enforcement agencies and national victim-based advocacy groups in joint task forces to protect our communities across the country,” said FBI Director Kash Patel. “The horrifying reach of human trafficking spreads far and wide. Homeland Security Task Forces are fighting back to disrupt these perilous networks and put a stop to that reach. The FBI will continue our investigations and bring justice to those exploited by human traffickers.”

“Western Washington is a leader in fighting human trafficking with dedicated, experienced prosecutors and a collaborative law enforcement team of state, local and federal partners,” said U.S. Attorney Neil Floyd. “We welcome the added resources of the Homeland Security Task Forces to augment our work in these areas.”

In January 2025, President Donald J. Trump signed Executive Order 14159, Protecting the American People Against Invasion. Section 6 of this order directed the Attorney General and the Secretary of Homeland Security to jointly establish HSTFs in every state nationwide. The HSTF objective is to end the presence of criminal cartels, foreign gangs, and transnational criminal organizations (TCOs) throughout the United States; dismantle cross-border human smuggling and trafficking networks; end the scourge of human smuggling and trafficking, with a particular focus on such offenses involving children; and ensure the use of all available law enforcement tools to faithfully execute the immigration laws of the United States.

Since January 20, 2025, the Western District of Washington has:

• Indicted a violent sex trafficker and acknowledged street gang leader, who posed with guns on social media and trafficked women on north Aurora Avenue and other states.
• Prosecuted a violent sex trafficker who was sentenced to 15 years in prison
• Indicted a 37-year-old Seattle man for sex trafficking through force. fraud and coercion.
• Sentenced a Washington State man to 11 years in prison for trafficking young women including a teen-ager.
• Prosecuted a landscaping company owner who paid to smuggle a Mexican woman to Washington and assaulted her and forced her to do hard labor for no pay. He is scheduled for sentencing in March.

In January 2026, DHS and DOJ are surging resources to fight and raise awareness about human trafficking, including:

• Identifying ongoing investigations and prioritizing featured operations across 45 federal locations and 10 state locations with an emphasis on border states.
• Coordinating with FBI Human Trafficking Squads and multi-agency Human Trafficking Task Forces to conduct victim recovery.
• Partnering with AMTRAK and FAMS to increase law enforcement resources and distribute posters with QR codes for reporting human trafficking in all station bathrooms and trains.
• Running advertisements related to $250 million recovery from Backpage to distribute to victims and additional victim restitution efforts by DOL-OIG.
• Organizing Human Trafficking seminars and outreach events with DHS Center for Countering Human Trafficking at high schools and colleges to highlight the role of HSTFs in addressing human trafficking.

On August 25, 2025, HSTF officially launched its effort to protect the Homeland with a September Surge encompassing 400 operations nationwide. In just 43 days, HSTF nationwide operations resulted in 3,266 arrests and seizures including:

• 1,041 Sinaloa members,
• 856 Cártel Jalisco Nueva Generación (“CJNG”) members,
• 641 MS-13 members,
• 456 Tren de Aragua members,
• 1,067 weapons
• More than $3,250,000 in currency
• Approximately 91 metric tons of narcotics

Seattle – A 26-year-old Seattle man was sentenced yesterday in U.S. District Court in Seattle to 27 months in prison for possession of a machine gun, announced U.S. Attorney Charles Neil Floyd. Andre Justice Atwater was taken into custody in June 2024, following the BB-gun shooting of two men in the parking lot of his International District apartment. Atwater was identified as the shooter, and when Seattle Police searched his apartment, they found more than 25 guns – 20 of them privately manufactured ‘ghost guns,’ and 103 ‘Glock switches’ devices that turn a semi-automatic Glock handgun into an automatic fire machine gun.

“This is a very serious offense,” said U.S. District Judge James L. Robart. “(The most common illegal use for) 3D printers is for coming up with illegal firearms.”

According to records filed in the case, when law enforcement searched Atwater’s apartment, they found one of the bedrooms had been turned 

into a workshop for the production of firearms. Atwater had a 3D printer and gunsmith tools. In a gun safe they found 25 firearms, 20 of them unregistered homemade ‘ghost guns.’ Three of the Glock switch devices had been filed down for installation into a firearm. Atwater also possessed two silencers. Unregistered silencers and unregistered machine guns are illegal to possess under federal law.  The 103 Glock switches seized in the apartment is the largest seizure of Glock switches in the Western District of Washington.

In asking for a three-year prison term Assistant United States Attorney Todd Greenberg wrote to the court, “…(T)he sheer volume of firearms Atwater possessed (and likely manufactured himself), and the large quantity of 103 machinegun conversion devices, is consistent with his present and/or future intent to sell the firearms and Glock switches. But for the fortuitous law enforcement intervention, Atwater had the potential to supply the streets of Seattle with dangerous firearms and machinegun devices – all or most of which would have inevitably ended up in the hands of dangerous individuals.”

Judge Robart ordered that Atwater be on supervised release for three years following prison. Atwater was sentenced in King County Superior Court to nine months in prison for the BB-gun assaults.

The case was investigated by the Seattle Police Department and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF).

The case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Todd Greenberg.  

Seattle – A 32-year-old Bellingham woman appeared late yesterday in U.S. District Court in Seattle after being extradited from Panama where she had illegally traveled with her 4-year-old son, announced U.S. Attorney Charles Neil Floyd. Talisa Manuella Munoz, failed to return the boy to his father as required by the final parenting plan. She secretly flew to Panama after using false documents to get the child a passport. Magistrate Judge Kate Vaughan ordered Munoz detained pending trial. The judge found that Munoz was a flight risk due to the extensive planning and misrepresentation that the defendant engaged in to secrete the child and take him to Panama.

According to the criminal complaint, Munoz, was supposed to return the child to his father on September 8, 2025, following a weekend visitation. When the child was not returned, the father reported to law enforcement and the FBI opened an investigation.

Law enforcement determined that months before leaving, Munoz, had falsely claimed on her son’s passport application that she had no way to find or know the father. She submitted a birth certificate that said “none named” where the father’s name should be. The investigation revealed that Talisa Manuella Munoz schemed with her family for months to take the child to Panama and flew out of Seattle on or about September 7, 2025.

The Department of Justice’s Office of International Affairs (OIA) and the U.S. Embassy in Panama City worked with law enforcement in Panama to arrest and secure the extradition of Talisa Manuella Munoz. She was returned to the Western District of Washington on January 8, 2026. Her young son was reunited with his father.

International Parental Kidnapping is punishable by a maximum of three years in prison. False statement in an application for a passport is punishable by a maximum of fifteen years in prison.

The charges contained in the criminal complaint are only allegations.  A person is presumed innocent unless and until he or she is proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.

The case is being investigated by the FBI. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Cecelia Gregson.

Seattle – A 25-year-old Federal Way, Washington man was sentenced today in U.S. District Court in Seattle to eight years in prison for using a firearm in a crime of violence, announced U.S. Attorney Charles Neil Floyd. Daniel Lopez was indicted by the grand jury on November 6, 2024, for the October 13, 2024, kidnapping of the spouse of someone who had cheated him in a drug deal. The Auburn, Washington woman was abducted at gunpoint from her home and ultimately was found safe in Guatemala. At the sentencing hearing U.S. District Judge John C. Coughenour said, the sentence was merited because of “the defendant’s use of a firearm in a violent kidnapping . . . and the violent nature of the charged conduct.”

“This defendant has a lengthy and serious criminal history with many of the offenses involving firearms,” said U.S. Attorney Neil Floyd. “Mr. Lopez has been involved in street gangs since his mid-teens and has committed several violent offenses including robbery, drive-by shooting and illegal possession of guns and drugs. This 8-year prison sentence is focused on protecting the community.”

“After losing money in a fraudulent drug deal, Lopez retaliated by violently kidnapping a person involved in the scheme, along with an innocent victim, at gunpoint,” said W. Mike Herrington, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI Seattle field office. “He held the victims against their will, directed co-conspirators to force them across the Mexico border, and fled to Texas where he was apprehended by FBI Houston. FBI Seattle is grateful to our partners in the Auburn Police Department and our FBI colleagues in Texas for their commitment to combatting violent crime alongside us, no matter how far the subject attempts to flee justice.”

According to records filed in the case, the kidnapping was retribution for a drug deal gone bad. The woman’s husband and a second victim who was also kidnapped, had taken $2500 from Lopez for cocaine, but the cocaine was never delivered. The female victim’s husband reported her missing on October 14, 2024, after arriving home and finding her belongings at their apartment. Two witnesses reported seeing the woman leaving with two men, one of whom was carrying a firearm. This man was subsequently identified as Lopez. Lopez was initially identified based on surveillance video from across the street showing vehicles in the apartment complex parking lot.  Officers then reviewed traffic camera pictures to obtain license plate information and ultimately determined Lopez was a registered owner of one of the vehicles.

The investigation revealed that the victims were held in the Seattle area for two days before being transported to the southern border with Mexico. Lopez had associates drive the woman and the other victim to the border and forced them to walk across. The two were identified by immigration authorities in Mexico and were transported to Guatemala. Neither had legal status in the U.S., and so have been barred from returning to their lives in the U.S.

Lopez was ultimately traced to Houston, Texas and was arrested on October 19, 2024, at a hotel. He has remained in custody since his arrest.

The case was investigated by the Auburn Police Department and the FBI.

The case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Todd Greenberg.

Seattle – Four people are charged federally for a drug trafficking conspiracy involving more than 20 pounds of cocaine, announced U.S. Attorney Charles Neil Floyd. Lead defendant, Luis Donaldo Galeana Garcia, 29, a Mexican citizen residing in Marysville, was ordered detained late yesterday when the magistrate judge found him both a flight risk and a danger to the community.

The defendants in this case were identified last summer as possible members of a drug trafficking conspiracy. Initially, HSI agents identified Galeana Garcia as a major drug distributor in the western region of Washington State.  By late September 2025, law enforcement obtained information pertaining to Galeana Garcia’s intentions of exchanging approximately 20 pounds of cocaine for 15 pounds of methamphetamine and $155,000.  Three others were involved in the drug exchange: Juan Carlos Garnica Pacheco, 33, of Everett, Lorena Esquivel,35, and Dustin Ray Binion,27, both of Bellingham.

Law enforcement intervened in the drug exchange. Galeana Garcia and Garnica Pacheco abandoned the car they were driving. Various vehicles were seized by law enforcement and court authorized search warrants resulted in the seizure of more than 10

 kilograms of cocaine and a 9mm firearm in the center console of one of the vehicles.  After law enforcement had identified and located the various defendants they executed search warrants on their residences last week. Galeana-Garcia and Garnica Pacheco both had a significant number of firearms and ammunition for semiautomatic weapons. That evidence as to Galeana Garcia was presented to Magistrate Judge Kate Vaughan who ordered him detained.

Due to the significant amount of narcotics involved in this case the defendants face a mandatory minimum ten years in prison.

The charges contained in the criminal complaint are only allegations.  A person is presumed innocent unless and until he or she is proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.

These arrests are 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. The HSTF 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), and the 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.

Homeland Security Investigations is investigating the case. The DEA, FBI and the Whatcom County Sheriff’s Office provided key assistance.

The case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Vincent T. Lombardi.

Seattle – A Seattle medical testing laboratory will pay the government $2 million to resolve allegations that it illegally overbilled government health care programs, announced U.S. Attorney Charles Neil Floyd. An investigation by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General (HHS-OIG) revealed that FidaLab improperly billed Medicare when they requested permission to bill a series of Urinary Tract Infection tests as a panel, had their request denied, and then billed the tests under multiple billing codes instead of a single code. While not admitting fault, the $2 million payment resolves the matter.

“We all have a stake in keeping healthcare costs under control,” said U.S. Attorney Neil Floyd. “Manipulating billing codes to overcharge for tests is an obvious area where we need to root out fraud. This case should be a warning to other companies to make sure they are billing for healthcare services appropriately.”

“Laboratories entrusted with taxpayer-funded health care programs must submit truthful and accurate claims,” said Robb R. Breeden, Acting Special Agent in Charge with HHS-OIG. “Submitting false laboratory testing claims wastes critical resources and undermines trust in our health care system. HHS-OIG will continue working with our law enforcement partners to ensure taxpayer dollars are used as intended—to provide care for the American people.”

FidaLab agrees not to seek payment for the unallowed costs from any of the patients involved in these health care billings.

The case was investigated by the Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General (HHS-OIG).

The settlement was negotiated by Assistant United States Attorney Matt Waldrop with substantial assistance from investigative analyst Ryan Hardy.

A Washington man pleaded guilty today to a federal hate crime charge for violently assaulting and stabbing a black female bus passenger because of her race. 

According to records filed in the case, on March 7, 2024, Adan C. Hernandez-Mayoral made derogatory comments about black people while he was riding a King County Metro bus. Hernandez-Mayoral then yelled at another passenger on the bus, and made racially derogatory comments directed at the victim, including referring to the woman as “Rosa Parks” and telling her to move to the back of the bus.

The woman walked to the front of the bus to try to get help and call the police, but Hernandez-Mayoral followed her. When the bus stopped, Hernandez-Mayoral pushed the woman off the bus and repeatedly assaulted her. He then pulled out a knife and stabbed at the victim numerous times before running away. Fortunately, the victim was wearing a heavy coat that prevented the knife from puncturing her skin, but the assault and stabbing caused bodily injury to the victim. Shortly after the assault, Kent Police located Hernandez-Mayoral hiding under a car, where he was then arrested.

Assistant Attorney General Harmeet K. Dhillon of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division, U.S. Attorney Charles Neil of the Western District of Washington, and FBI Special Agent in Charge W. Mike Herrington of the of the FBI Seattle Field Office made the announcement.

Hernandez-Mayoral is scheduled to be sentenced on March 17, 2026. The maximum penalty is 10 years in prison.

The case was investigated by the Kent Police Department and the FBI, with the cooperation and support of the King County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office.

The case is being prosecuted by Trial Attorney Tenette Smith of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division and Assistant U.S. Attorney Jessica M. Manca for the Western District of Washington. 

Seattle – A 24-year-old Auburn, Washington man pleaded guilty today in U.S. District Court in Seattle to committing a hate crime involving bodily injury and a dangerous weapon for his attack on a Black bus rider, announced U.S. Attorney Charles Neil Floyd.  Adan C. Hernandez-Mayoral is scheduled for sentencing in front of Judge James L. Robart on March 17, 2026.

According to records filed in the case, on March 7, 2024, Hernandez-Mayoral made derogatory comments about Black people while he was riding a King County Metro bus. When a Black woman on the bus looked to see who was making racist comments, he yelled at her not to look at him and made more comments, including referring to the woman as “Rosa Parks” and asking her to move to the back of the bus. The woman walked to the front of the bus to call the police and Hernandez-Mayoral followed.

When the bus stopped, Hernandez-Mayoral pushed the woman off the bus and assaulted her. He pulled out a knife that he thrust at the woman’s abdomen numerous times before running away. Fortunately, the woman was wearing a heavy coat that prevented the knife from reaching her skin. Nevertheless, the assault caused bodily injury.

As Kent Police searched for the suspect in the attack, a neighbor called police reporting a man hiding in their yard. The clothing matched that of the assailant shown on the Metro surveillance video. Hernandez-Mayoral was arrested hiding under a car a short distance from the scene of the assault.

Prosecutors have agreed to recommend no more than 57 months to be served concurrently with any sentence imposed in the King County Superior and District court cases involving Hernandez-Mayoral. Judge Robart is not bound by the recommendation and can impose any sentence allowed by law.

The case was investigated by the Kent Police Department and the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI). The King County Prosecuting Attorney’s Office provided substantial assistance and worked closely with federal prosecutors on this case to hold Hernandez-Mayoral accountable for his conduct.

The case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Jessica M. Manca for the Western District of Washington and Trial Attorney Tenette R. Smith of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division. Ms. Manca leads the criminal civil rights investigations for the Western District of Washington.

Tacoma – A high-volume tax preparer in Vancouver, Washington, was sentenced today in U.S. District Court in Tacoma to 18 months in federal prison for sixteen counts of aiding and assisting in the preparation of false and fraudulent tax returns, to be followed by a 135-month concurrent sentence imposed by Clark County for his convictions on a state attempted murder charge announced U.S. Attorney Charles Neil Floyd. Keith Altamirano, 52, operated Integrity Investments, LLC, doing business as “Servicios Latinos.” Between 2017 and 2021, Altamirano prepared at least 12,000 tax returns. A statistical sampling analysis reveals that his false entries on customer tax returns cost the U.S. Treasury more than $5 million in tax loss. At the sentencing hearing Chief U.S. District Judge David G. Estudillo said that tax preparer fraud impacts our government’s ability to “function properly” and that adequate “deterrence [was] necessary.” 

According to records filed in the case, Altamirano falsified clients’ income tax submissions by listing fake medical expenses, and charitable donations for deductions, listing fake cars for depreciation and expense deductions, and by listing fabricated and inflated business expenses.  Altamirano concealed his fraud by omitting his name on his clients’ filed returns. The clients did not know Altamirano falsified their tax return to get them a larger refund. Altamirano’s fraud helped build his business as customers recommended him to others to get larger refunds.

In asking for a five-year sentence, prosecutors noted that Altamirano’s customers were victimized by his actions. “Altamirano’s clients trusted him (and paid him) to maximize their deductions honestly and in accordance with the law. His clients were not tax literate, and they chose him as their trusted professional. Altamirano greatly abused this trust and put them at risk by creating fraudulent returns on their behalf. Many of his clients have been audited and risk penalties and back taxes. His clients believed they were hiring a professional to ensure their taxes were done correctly and many of them have had to deal with the stress of being embroiled in Altamirano’s criminal affairs.”

The tax loss for the 16 counts he pleaded guilty to is $104,518. Altamirano agreed to pay that amount in restitution to the IRS. Chief Judge Estudillo ordered Altamirano to sell one of the four properties he owns to pay the restitution.

In September 2025, Altamirano also pled guilty to attempted second degree murder and drug charges in Clark County Superior Court. Altamirano was sentenced to 135 months of imprisonment in his state case, which will run concurrently with his federal sentence according to the Clark County judgment.

The tax fraud case was investigated by the Internal Revenue Service Criminal Investigation (IRS-CI).

The tax fraud case is being prosecuted by Amanda McDowell. 

Seattle – A 58-year-old Bellevue, Washington and Las Vegas, man pleaded guilty today in U.S. District Court in Seattle for his role in a scheme to sell stolen goods on Amazon and eBay, announced U.S. Attorney Charles Neil Floyd.  Andrey A. Balun pleaded guilty to conspiracy to transport stolen property in interstate commerce. Balun and his co-defendant, Vitaliy F. Bobak, 53, of Federal Way, Washington, jointly owned MBA Trading LLC which did business at a Burien, Washington storefront operating as “We Buy Gold, Silver, and Electronics.” An extensive law enforcement investigation revealed that the storefront knowingly purchased goods that had been stolen from area retailers. The pair then sold the goods on Amazon or eBay for millions of dollars in profit.

According to the plea agreement and other records filed in the case, Balun co-owned the business since 2018.  In 2019 Bobak bought a 50 percent share of the business that once belonged to Balun’s original business partner. Balun trained Bobak on how to operate the business. Balun admits that the business purchased stolen goods from individual sellers knowing that the goods were stolen. The business bought primarily over the counter medications and health/beauty products. In many instances the goods still had anti-theft devices attached, and/or stickers saying for sale only at a particular retailer.  The men bought the goods far below the retail price and then posted them for sale on two websites they operated on Amazon and eBay. The Amazon store was called “Medikus” and the eBay store was called “abcstore555.” Money from the online stores was traced to the men’s bank accounts. The funds were then used by the men to operate the scheme by paying cash to the “boosters” (people who stole the goods) and payroll to employees who were involved in posting and shipping the goods for sale.  The remainder of the proceeds were funneled to the men who then withdrew money to pay themselves and for various personal expenses. Between 2021 and June of 2023, the operation brought in more than $4.5 million. Balun obtained proceeds of at least $1 million. Investigators traced some of that money to his purchase of a home in Las Vegas.

The plea agreement details three items brought to the We Buy store as stolen goods that were then sold on Amazon and eBay: a Braun electric shaver, sold and shipped to Rhode Island, a Keurig coffee maker sold and shipped to Oregon and Sonicare and Rogaine products purchased from a “booster.” Bobak used a torch lighter and drill to remove the security devices on the products.

The scale of the sales was huge and both national and international. An analysis of the sales of the two online stores reveals that between January 1, 2022, and November 28, 2023, there were over 150,000 sale transactions through the abcstore555 eBay and Medikus Amazon stores. When search warrants were served and merchandise seized on December 19, 2023, the conspirators possessed more than 74,000 items of stolen merchandise valued at approximately $2.4 million. After the seizure, the business shut down.

In his plea agreement Balun agrees to forfeit $1,000,000 to the government as part of the resolution of his case.

Conspiracy to transport stolen property is punishable by up to five years in prison.

Bobak is scheduled for sentencing by U.S. District Judge Tana Lin on January 14, 2026. Balun is scheduled for sentencing on March 11, 2026. Prosecutors have agreed to recommend that Balun serve no more than 57 months in prison. Judge Lin is not limited by the recommendation and can impose any sentence allowed by law.

The case is being investigated by Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), with significant assistance from the Renton Police Department, Seattle Police Department, and the IRS, and aided by investigators from numerous retailers. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Sean H. Waite and Asset Forfeiture Assistant United States Attorney Krista Bush.

Seattle – A former real estate professional who operated a real estate investment fund was convicted late yesterday in U.S. District Court in Seattle of conspiracy to commit wire fraud and multiple counts of wire fraud, money laundering, and tax fraud, announced U.S. Attorney Charles Neil Floyd. Tamara King, aka Tamara Waln, 56, of Toledo, Ohio, previously resided in Bellevue and Kirkland, Washington. The jury also convicted King of eight counts of wire fraud, two counts of money laundering, and three counts of filing a false tax return after an 8-day jury trial. Jurors deliberated for five hours before reaching the guilty verdict. U.S. District Judge Ricardo S. Martinez scheduled sentencing for March 20, 2026.

King’s co-defendant Paul Waln, 60, now of Dallas, Texas, pleaded guilty to the wire fraud conspiracy in June 2025 and was sentenced to 33 months in prison on October 31, 2025.

According to records filed in the case, between August 2009 and December 2013, Waln solicited investments in a real estate fund called Halcyon. Twenty-two victims, most of whom were Seattle residents, invested $2.25 million in the fund. Waln told investors their funds would be pooled to purchase and renovate an apartment building in West Seattle and then used for other real estate projects. Investors were required to leave their money in the investment pool for ten years. Waln said that at the end of the 10-year period, Waln would return the investment principal and earnings, which he estimated amount to a 20 percent annual return. Waln was entitled to receive a 1% fee for managing the investment fund.

In 2013, Waln married King, who was also a real estate agent. Waln and King then jointly managed the investment fund. Between February 2014 and December 2018, they conspired to misappropriate money from the fund to pay their personal expenses. The pair secretly transferred hundreds of thousands of dollars at a time from the fund to their management company and then transferred the money to King’s personal accounts. In some instances, they wrote secret memos characterizing these transfers as “loans,” but the money was never repaid. Investors were never told about the “loans.”

Under the terms of the investment, Waln and King were required to distribute the investment funds to investors in 2019. But by the end of 2018, they had misappropriated all the money. In December 2018, Waln sent investors a letter falsely claiming that the fund’s general contractor had been diagnosed with cancer. Waln told investors that this would result in a two-to-three-year delay before he would be able to return investors’ money. The contractor in question never had a cancer diagnosis.

Finally, in October 2019, King informed the investors that all the money was gone, and the investment had failed. All the remaining investors lost their entire investments.

In addition, King failed to report over $1.6 million in income over three tax years. For those three tax years, King reported $188,116 in total income, when she actually received $1.85 million. 

At trial, King blamed Waln for the misappropriation, claiming Waln told her the “loans” were allowed. Assistant United States Attorney Seth Wilkinson told the jurors that the couple acted as a team. Waln “brought the money in the front door and King stole it out the back. … She took $50,000 for an 8 and a half carat diamond ring and more than $120,000 for her Tesla.” Prosecutors noted that King transferred investor money to accounts she controlled so that she could buy what she wanted with the investors’ money. In all investors lost $2.4 million. “She blindly drained every last dollar,” Assistant United States Attorney Cindy Chang told jurors.

Conspiracy to commit wire fraud, and wire fraud are punishable by up to twenty years in prison. Money laundering is punishable by up to ten years in prison. Filing a false tax return is punishable by up to three years in prison.

The case is being investigated by the FBI and Internal Revenue Service Criminal Investigation (IRS-CI). The case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Seth Wilkinson, Cindy Chang, and Jehiel Baer.

Tacoma – Two Lacey, Washington, men – both former members of the military – were indicted by the grand jury this week for conspiracy, four counts of theft of government property, assault, robbery, and attempted theft of government property, announced U.S. Attorney Charles Neil Floyd. Charles Ethan Fields, 27, and Levi Austin Frakes, 27, have been in custody since their arrest on June 2, 2025. The men will be arraigned on the charges on December 22, 2025.

According to the indictment, by at least early 2023, the men conspired to steal military equipment from Joint Base Lewis McChord (JBLM). The men took the equipment from JBLM – including helmets, clothing, communications equipment, and ballistic vests –to the home they shared in Lacey. They photographed the items and offered them for sale on online marketplaces in accounts under false names.

The indictment alleges seven different time periods when Fields and Frakes entered JBLM and stole items from the Ranger compound. In January 2023 they stole from lockers in the Alpha Company Operations Facility. In February 2023, they stole from lockers of the Charlie Company Operations Facility. In May 2023, they stole from the Delta Company Operations Facility. In January 2024, they again stole from the Charlie Company Operation Facility lockers. In June 2024, they stole from the Alpha Company a second time, and in January 2025 they raided the Alpha Company lockers a third time.

On June 1, 2025, the men were attempting to steal from the Charlie Company Operations Facility in the Ranger compound when a member of the Army discovered them. Fields and Frakes were masked and when questioned, the men started fighting with the Army member and beat him on the head and torso with a hammer. The victim was able to gain control of the hammer, only to have one of the men pull a knife and brandish it at him. The men – later identified as Fields and Frakes – ran from the Ranger compound and dropped the items they were trying to steal.

Investigators collected evidence at the scene of the attempted theft and assault and determined the men were trying to steal about $14,000 in government property on that occasion.

The men were traced to an address in Lacey and law enforcement obtained a warrant to search the residence the next day. Inside they found weapons and military property, including night vision devices, ballistic plates and plate carriers, and helmets; military munitions; and military explosives such as blasting caps, flashbangs, and smoke grenades. Some of the items are restricted and not allowed to be owned or stored in a private residence. Officers also recovered $24,000 in cash.

Assault and theft of government property are each punishable by up to 10 years in prison. Robbery is punishable by up to 15 years in prison.

The charges contained in the indictment are only allegations.  A person is presumed innocent unless and until he or she is proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.

The case is being investigated by the Department of the Army Criminal Investigation Division.

The case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Marci L. Ellsworth. 

Seattle – A 42-year-old Everett, Washington, man was sentenced today in U.S. District Court in Seattle to 15 years in prison for eight federal felonies involving drug trafficking and illegally possessing firearms, announced U.S. Attorney Charles Neil Floyd. David James Michael Jensen was convicted in September 2025, of five counts of unlawful possession of a firearm, two counts of possession of controlled substances with intent to distribute and one count of possessing a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime. At today’s sentencing hearing U.S. District Judge Tana Lin said, “You were bringing dangerous drugs into the state. Drugs that are causing thousands of deaths in our country…. Your actions contributed greatly to that suffering…. You kept getting drugs and guns despite being repeatedly detained by police.”

According to records filed in the case, over a three-year period Jensen was repeatedly identified and arrested by Everett Police involved with drug trafficking activities and firearms. On September 7, 2021, Jensen fled the scene of a two-car accident but left behind a backpack containing identity documents and a loaded 9mm handgun with extra ammunition. He was charged and convicted of illegally possessing the firearm.

On April 7, 2022, Jensen was detained for driving without a license. A court authorized search of his car revealed several loaded firearms as well as fentanyl, heroin, and methamphetamine. For these crimes he was charged and convicted of possessing a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime which is punishable by a mandatory five-year term to run consecutive to any other conviction.

On May 11, 2022, Jensen was arrested again unlawfully possessing a firearm. In this case he had heroin, methamphetamine, and a High Point 9mm pistol.

Jensen’s next run-in with Everett Police occurred on July 31, 2024. Jensen was followed by police as he drove to a storage unit. Again, he was driving without a license and at the time of arrest officers found narcotics on him. In the storage unit officers found several firearms, including two “ghost guns” those that are privately made without serial numbers. They found ammunition and 400 fentanyl pills as well as several motorbikes – one of which was stolen.

Finally on December 27, 2024, Everett Police observed Jensen in Seattle placing various bags in different vehicles. They got a search warrant for one of the vehicles and found a loaded Glock 19 handgun as well as fentanyl, heroin, and drug paraphernalia. Jensen was then transferred to federal custody and indicted on these federal charges.

In asking for the 15-year sentence Assistant United States Attorney Stephen Hobbs wrote to the court, “Jensen was caught on multiple occasions with firearms and distribution quantities of drugs. He was clearly redistributing drugs and was in possession of firearms while doing so. Jensen clearly had no regard for the law, returning to possessing drugs and guns despite being detained for doing so on multiple occasions… Jensen’s actions placed the community, law enforcement, and himself at risk.”

The case was investigated by the Everett Police Department and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF). The case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Stephen Hobbs. 

Seattle – The U.S. Attorney’s Office, Western District of Washington and 24-Hour Fitness, a nine-state exercise facility business, this week resolved allegations it failed to comply with the Americans with Disabilities Act, announced U.S. Attorney Charles Neil Floyd. The chain will embark on new training and policies to ensure compliance with the ADA and will pay the complainant $2,000. The fitness chain denies any wrongdoing.

According to the settlement agreement, the complainant was a member at the Vancouver, Washington, Mill Plain Boulevard, 24-Hour Fitness. She complained that the accessible shower in the women’s locker room had not been available for months. An investigation by the U.S. Attorney’s Office confirmed the accessible shower was unusable for several months due to ongoing repairs and maintenance.

While not agreeing that it violated the ADA, 24-Hour Fitness will make new draft policies regarding ADA compliance at all 24-Hour Fitness locations and submit them to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for review. The new policies will require surveys every six months of all 24-Hour Fitness facilities, with an eye to ADA compliance. The policies will also establish a protocol to conduct daily observations of accessible features to ensure usability and address maintenance and repair issues. The company agrees to post its ADA compliance commitment at all Washington locations and will maintain a complaint process for all facilities to address concerns or allegations of discrimination based on disability. If the U.S. Attorney’s Office receives any additional complaints it will provide them to attorneys for the company with the expectation that the company will respond in five business days.

The clubs will train all its employees on ADA compliance and will keep records of facility repairs related to ADA compliance. The clubs will report on compliance regarding the Washington facilities to the U.S. Attorney’s Office every twelve months for a two-year period.

In addition to paying $2,000 to the complainant, 24-Hour Fitness agrees to pay $10,000 to the U.S. Attorney’s Office. However, that payment will be suspended if 24-Hour Fitness successfully meets all the requirements of the settlement over a two-year period.

The settlement was negotiated by Assistant United States Attorney Susan Kas, Civil Rights Coordinator in the Civil Division of the U.S. Attorney’s Office. 

Seattle – The operator of a web of boiler-room-type call centers was sentenced today in U.S. District Court in Seattle to ten years in prison for defrauding nearly 1,000 distressed homeowners facing foreclosure, announced U.S. Attorney Charles Neil Floyd.  Mohammed Zafaranchi, 43, aka ‘Mike’ was convicted following a week-long trial of all twelve federal charges he faced: conspiracy to commit wire fraud, five counts of wire fraud, five counts of money laundering, and obstruction of justice. At the sentencing hearing, U.S. District Judge John C. Coughenour ordered Zafaranchi to begin serving his sentence immediately, saying the sentence was based “on the evidence the court heard at trial and the substantial number of victims and the severe hardship the victims suffered.”

“This defendant lined his pockets with some $2.6 million while preying on vulnerable homeowners,” said U.S. Attorney Neil Floyd. “Of more than 900 victims, many lost their homes to foreclosure, and all were in worse financial shape due to the ‘help’ his company never provided. This is a significant sentence for a fraud case, and one that is deserved by the trail of financial hardship this defendant left in his wake.”

“Like many fraudsters, Mr. Zafaranchi took advantage of a vulnerable population: in this case, homeowners facing foreclosure,” said W. Mike Herrington, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI Seattle field office. “He then tailored a scheme to prey on their financial difficulties by offering them false hope in return for a hefty fee to supposedly reduce their debt and interest rate. As consequence for his actions, Mr. Zafaranchi now has a decade in prison to consider the harm he’s done and, hopefully, resolve to change his ways.”

Zafaranchi’s fraud scheme involved purchasing data that identified homeowners who were behind on their mortgages and at risk of losing their homes. Each week, Zafaranchi sent thousands of solicitation mailers falsely telling the distressed homeowners they were eligible for government programs that would reduce their mortgage debt by 30% and reduce their interest rate to 2%. The mailers told homeowners to call a phone number before a made-up deadline to get the mortgage modification.

When homeowners called the call centers, operators followed a series of scripts telling homeowners that lawyers and underwriters had vetted their case and negotiated a modification with their lender. The scripts instructed operators to place callers on hold for a pre-determined amount of time to build suspense and make it appear a review was underway.  The operator would then return to the line and tell each victim he or she was one of the very select few who qualified for the program—but only if the homeowner paid the call center a $3,000 legal fee to “finalize” the modification.

In fact, Zafaranchi’s businesses had no legal or underwriting staff. Instead, untrained workers simply scanned the homeowners’ financial records, completed a basic application form, and sent the documents to the banks. The homeowners did not receive the modifications promised in the mailers, and some lost their homes.

After taking the victims’ money, Zafaranchi laundered the funds through shell bank accounts and withdrew the proceeds in cash. He was convicted of money laundering for this conduct.

On March 29, 2018, the FBI served a search warrant on the call center in Everett Washington. After learning of this search, Zafaranchi told his California employees to remove the computers and other evidence from his California offices. That night, Zafaranchi destroyed all records associated with three email accounts he used to operate the businesses. For that conduct, Zafaranchi was convicted of obstruction of justice.

In asking for a 12-year sentence prosecutors wrote to the court, “Although the theft of nearly $3 million is horrific no matter the circumstances, the money that Zafaranchi stole was taken from people who desperately needed it. Stealing $3,000 from families, retirees, or other vulnerable individuals who are desperately fighting to keep their homes is appalling. And Zafaranchi did that day, after day, after day, to more than 900 people until he was finally caught—an average of nearly a victim a day for three years. Indeed, given that Zafaranchi exploited more than 900 victims, a sentence of 144 months would amount to less than 1 week of incarceration for each of his victims.”

Today, Judge Coughenour ordered Zafaranchi to turn himself in to the U.S. Marshal Office at the federal courthouse to being serving his ten-year sentence immediately. Zafaranchi will be on three years of supervised release following prison. The amount of restitution Zafaranchi must pay to his victims will be determined at a future hearing.

Zafaranchi’s two coconspirators, Mark Lezama and Josh Herrera both pleaded guilty and will be sentenced in early 2026.

The case was investigated by the FBI.  The case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Seth Wilkinson, Lauren Watts Staniar, and Dane A. Westermeyer. The Federal Housing Finance Agency Office of Inspector General provided support in the case.  

Seattle –A 55-year-old Everett, Washington man was sentenced today in U.S. District Court in Seattle to five years in prison for three federal felonies including a pipe bomb explosion that destroyed a neighbor’s car, announced U.S. Attorney Charles Neil Floyd. Steven Goldstine pleaded guilty in September 2025, to unlawful possession of a destructive device; unlawful possession of ammunition; and unlawful possession of a firearm. At the sentencing hearing U.S. District Judge John H. Chun said “This case involves serious and quite frankly horrifying conduct. Add in the racist statements it is disgusting conduct.”

“This defendant turned his racial hatred into a potentially deadly explosion, using a pipe bomb to blow up a car. Not everything is a hate crime, but we believe this defendant acted on racial hatred,” said U.S. Attorney Neil Floyd. “After the bombing he called the victims to gloat, leaving a message with racial slurs. This time in prison will protect our community.”

“Fueled by hatred for a neighbor’s race, the defendant used a pipe bomb to cause an explosion and destroy property,” said Assistant Attorney General Harmeet K. Dhillon of the Justice Department's Civil Rights Division. “This sentence reflects the Department of Justice’s steadfast commitment to vigorously prosecute racially motivated crimes and ensure perpetrators are held accountable.”

“The violence and hatred behind this crime had no place in Everett, and our detectives worked closely with our federal partners to ensure a thorough investigation and a strong case, said Everett Police Chief John DeRousse. “The victim in this incident showed resilience in the face of a senseless act meant to intimidate and divide.  We are grateful for the collaboration with the FBI, ATF, and the U.S. Attorney’s Office that ultimately brought accountability and helped reinforce that everyone in our community deserves to feel safe.”

According to records filed in the case, on December 31, 2024, Everett Police responded to reports of an explosion in a car parked at an apartment complex. The victims told police they suspected Goldstine due to a conflict they had with him. The day after the explosion they received a voice message from Goldstine using racial slurs and referencing the explosion in the vehicle. The police investigation used video surveillance from the victim’s apartment and nearby businesses to link the bomber to clothing found at Goldstine’s home.

The investigation also led to the guilty pleas and sentencing for two other federal crimes: unlawful possession of ammunition and unlawful possession of a firearm. Goldstine is prohibited from possessing firearms or ammunition due to prior felony convictions for burglary, arson, and possession of stolen property.

Goldstine illegally possessed more than 700 rounds of ammunition which were seized from his home when it was searched following the pipe bomb explosion. Previously, in September 2020, law enforcement searched Goldstine’s residence after he pointed a gun at protestors in Everett. The action was captured on video. In that search of Goldstine’s home, the firearm was seized by law enforcement.

In asking for a 78 month prison sentence prosecutors wrote to the court, “Goldstine has a deeply troubling history of violence, dating back to several serious convictions for arson in the late ‘80s and early ‘90s. Violence has remained a consistent part of his life over the past five years, from assaulting a neighbor and fighting with police in 2019, to pointing a gun at protestors in 2020 to making death threats on YouTube in 2022… to bombing (the victim’s) car at the end of December 2024.”

“No one should fear violence based on their beliefs or identity, and terror motivated by hate will not be tolerated. This sentence reflects our commitment to investigate and prosecute reprehensible, hate-fueled acts of violence to the fullest extent of the law,” said ATF Seattle Field Division Acting Special Agent in Charge Eric Jackson.

“After years of hateful and violent behavior, Mr. Goldstine is now being sentenced for exploding his neighbors’ car, bragging about it, and leaving an offensive message for the victims,” said W. Mike Herrington, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI Seattle field office. “Thankfully, no one was hurt in this incident, which could well have killed someone. Together with our partners, the Puget Sound Joint Terrorism Task Force will not stand for such violent intimidation and will remain vigilant in combatting such dangerous acts.”

Judge Chun ordered Goldstine to be on three years of supervised release following prison. For one of those years he ordered that Goldstine be on electronic location monitoring.

The case was investigated by the Everett Police Department, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF), and the FBI. The Snohomish County Prosecutors Office provided valuable assistance.

The case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Jessica M. Manca for the Western District of Washington and Trial Attorney Taylor Payne of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division. 

A 55-year-old Everett, Washington man was sentenced today in U.S. District Court in Seattle to five years in prison for three federal felonies including a pipe bomb explosion that destroyed a neighbor’s car. Steven Goldstine pleaded guilty in September 2025, to unlawful possession of a destructive device; unlawful possession of ammunition; and unlawful possession of a firearm. At the sentencing hearing U.S. District Judge John H. Chun said “This case involves serious and quite frankly horrifying conduct. Add in the racist statements it is disgusting conduct.”

“Fueled by hatred for a neighbor’s race, the defendant used a pipe bomb to cause an explosion and destroy property,” said Assistant Attorney General Harmeet K. Dhillon of the Justice Department's Civil Rights Division. “This sentence reflects the Department of Justice’s steadfast commitment to vigorously prosecute racially motivated crimes and ensure perpetrators are held accountable.”

“This defendant turned his racial hatred into a potentially deadly explosion, using a pipe bomb to blow up a car. Not everything is a hate crime, but we believe this defendant acted on racial hatred,” said U.S. Attorney Neil Floyd for the Western District of Washington. “After the bombing he called the victims to gloat, leaving a message with racial slurs. This time in prison will protect our community.”

“After years of hateful and violent behavior, Mr. Goldstine is now being sentenced for exploding his neighbors’ car, bragging about it, and leaving an offensive message for the victims,” said Special Agent in Charge W. Mike Herrington of the FBI Seattle Field Office. “Thankfully, no one was hurt in this incident, which could well have killed someone. Together with our partners, the Puget Sound Joint Terrorism Task Force will not stand for such violent intimidation and will remain vigilant in combatting such dangerous acts.”

“No one should fear violence based on their beliefs or identity, and terror motivated by hate will not be tolerated,” said Acting Special Agent in Charge Eric Jackson of the ATF Seattle Field Division. “This sentence reflects our commitment to investigate and prosecute reprehensible, hate-fueled acts of violence to the fullest extent of the law.”

“The violence and hatred behind this crime had no place in Everett, and our detectives worked closely with our federal partners to ensure a thorough investigation and a strong case,” said Everett Police Chief John DeRousse. “The victim in this incident showed resilience in the face of a senseless act meant to intimidate and divide. We are grateful for the collaboration with the FBI, ATF, and the U.S. Attorney’s Office that ultimately brought accountability and helped reinforce that everyone in our community deserves to feel safe.”

According to records filed in the case, on Dec. 31, 2024, Everett Police responded to reports of an explosion in a car parked at an apartment complex. The victims told police they suspected Goldstine due to a conflict they had with him. The day after the explosion they received a voice message from Goldstine using racial slurs and referencing the explosion in the vehicle. The police investigation used video surveillance from the victim’s apartment and nearby businesses to link the bomber to clothing found at Goldstine’s home.

The investigation also led to the guilty pleas and sentencing for two other federal crimes: unlawful possession of ammunition and unlawful possession of a firearm. Goldstine is prohibited from possessing firearms or ammunition due to prior felony convictions for burglary, arson, and possession of stolen property.

Goldstine illegally possessed more than 700 rounds of ammunition which were seized from his home when it was searched following the pipe bomb explosion. Previously, in September 2020, law enforcement searched Goldstine’s residence after he pointed a gun at protestors in Everett. The action was captured on video. In that search of Goldstine’s home, the firearm was seized by law enforcement.

In asking for a 78 month prison sentence prosecutors wrote to the court, “Goldstine has a deeply troubling history of violence, dating back to several serious convictions for arson in the late ‘80s and early ‘90s. Violence has remained a consistent part of his life over the past five years, from assaulting a neighbor and fighting with police in 2019, to pointing a gun at protestors in 2020 to making death threats on YouTube in 2022… to bombing (the victim’s) car at the end of December 2024.”

Judge Chun ordered Goldstine to be on three years of supervised release following prison. For one of those years he ordered that Goldstine be on electronic location monitoring.

The case was investigated by the Everett Police Department, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), and the FBI. The Snohomish County Prosecutors Office provided valuable assistance.

The case is being prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Jessica M. Manca for the Western District of Washington and Trial Attorney Taylor Payne of the Justice Department’s Civil Rights Division. 

Seattle – A 57-year-old Monroe, Washington man pleaded guilty today in U.S. District Court in Seattle to a federal felony: Harboring an Alien for Financial Gain, announced U.S. Attorney Charles Neil Floyd. Rangel Ramirez-Manzano was originally charged with four federal felonies related to his treatment of a victim smuggled into the U.S. at his direction. After years of delay in the case over whether Ramirez-Manzano was mentally competent to go to trial, the case was resolved with the guilty plea. U.S. District Judge Robert S. Lasnik scheduled sentencing for March 5, 2026.

According to records filed in the case, Ramirez-Manzano had known the victim, who lived in his hometown in Mexico, when she was younger. He pursued a long-distance relationship with the victim, urging her to move to the U.S. to be his girlfriend. Ramirez-Manzano paid $17,000 for her to be smuggled across the border and into southern California. Ramirez-Manzano picked her up from the smugglers and paid them. Almost immediately upon arriving in Washington, he forced her to begin hard labor for his landscaping business and threatened her, assaulted her, and threatened the children she left behind in Mexico.

The case files describe how he isolated her from others, restricted her food, and failed to pay her any wages for months of strenuous work at various landscaping job locations. In the plea agreement, the defendant admitted that the victim did at least $16,000 worth of uncompensated work for his business.

Ramirez-Manzano harbored the victim in his home from February 2022 until April 24, 2022. The victim was finally able to escape from Ramirez-Manzano’s home and asked a neighbor to call 911. The Monroe Police responded and took the victim for medical attention for multiple injuries. The FBI joined the Monroe Police in investigating the case. Ramirez-Manzano was charged by criminal complaint and arrested in September 2022. He has remained in federal custody ever since, with various mental evaluations and treatment.

Ramirez-Manzano has agreed to pay the victim $16,000 in restitution. Law enforcement seized $16,000 in cash from Ramirez-Manzano’s work truck and it will be forfeited to the government for restitution.

Harboring an alien for financial gain is punishable by up to ten years in prison. Prosecutors have agreed to recommend five years in prison, but Judge Lasnik can impose any sentence allowed by law.

Ramirez-Manzano is a legal permanent resident, but his status can be revoked due to a conviction such as this. He likely will be deported following his prison term.

The case is being investigated by the FBI.

The case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Kate Crisham and Rachel Yemini. Ms. Crisham is the Western District of Washington coordinator of our efforts to stop human trafficking.

Seattle – The U.S. Attorney’s Office and the Polyclinic, d/b/a Optum Care Washington, has resolved allegations one of its medical facilities failed on multiple occasions to provide sign language interpreter services for a patient who is deaf and blind, in violation of the American with Disabilities Act (ADA). Under the terms of the settlement, the Polyclinic will pay $25,000 to the patient who had multiple appointments either cancelled or with inadequate interpreter services. The Polyclinic has also set up a fund of $350,000 to compensate any other patients who were impacted by the clinics’ failure to have appropriate interpreter services during the Claims Period between January 1, 2021, and September 30, 2025. In addition to the financial payments Polyclinic will take several steps to ensure compliance with the ADA.

The Polyclinic commits to having appropriate interpreter services available for all patients and will contract with no fewer than five companies to provide interpreter services. As part of its intake process for patients the Polyclinic will assess the need for appropriate aids or services. The Polyclinic will designate a point person to oversee assistive devices and services, and that person will have additional staffers who can arrange appropriate services. This group of employees will undergo mandatory training approved by the U.S. Attorney’s Office regarding the steps to identify communication needs and secure interpreter services. Training will also be provided to all staff who have patient contact.

The Polyclinic will maintain a log of patients or companions who need assistive services, and the services provided. If services are not provided the log will explain the circumstances. These logs will be part of the Compliance Report that the Polyclinic will periodically provide to the U.S. Attorney’s Office.

Polyclinic will post information in Braille as well printed signs about the Auxiliary Aids and Services it has available. The information will also be posted on the Polyclinic website about ways to request such services.

Every six months Polyclinic will prepare a compliance report for the U.S. Attorney’s Office. If there are any complaints about failing to provide appropriate auxiliary aids or services those complaints must be forwarded to the U.S. Attorney’s Office within 30 days.

The Polyclinic will pay the United States $25,000 to vindicate the public interest in enforcement of the ADA. The Polyclinic will name a Claims Administrator to review its records to determine if there are other patients who were harmed by the failure to provide appropriate assistive services during the Claims Period. The list of patients and the number of appointments cancelled or impacted will be provided to the U.S. Attorney’s Office. Those patients will be contacted by the Claims Administrator about a potential claim. There will also be a website where potentially eligible claimants can get more information. Eligible claimants may seek compensation from the $350,000 fund set up by Polyclinic. Any remaining funds after all legitimate claims have been processed will be returned to the Polyclinic.

The agreement between Polyclinic and the U.S. Attorney’s Office lasts for two years.

This is the fourth medical group to resolve allegations it violated the rights of patients who are deaf or deaf/blind. Over the past three years the U.S. Attorney’s Office has resolved cases with MultiCare Health systems , PeaceHealth Southwest Medical Center in Vancouver, Washington, and University of Washington Medical Center – Northwest (UWMC-NW).

The settlement was negotiated by Assistant United States Attorney Susan Kas, Civil Rights Coordinator in the Civil Division of the U.S. Attorney’s Office.

Copies of the settlement are available upon request.

Seattle – Three Seattle area men were sentenced in October 2025 to significant federal prison sentences due to their convictions for drug trafficking and firearms violations, announced U.S. Attorney Charles Neil Floyd.

The longest sentence, ten years, was imposed on Anthony Raymond Dodd, 36, of Seattle. Dodd was convicted of possession of fentanyl with intent to distribute and possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime on July 25, 2025 following a three-day trial. At the sentencing hearing on October 27, 2025, U.S. District Judge John H. Chun noted that the offense was very serious, given the danger of fentanyl in our communities, and that it was compounded by the fact that Dodd had a gun and was on Department of Corrections community custody at the time of the offense.

In Tacoma, Chief Judge David G. Estudillo sentenced a drug trafficker connected to an Aryan Family prison gang to six years in prison. Philip Boorkman was a key drug distributor in one of three related drug trafficking groups. Boorkman was indicted in March 2023 and pleaded guilty in January 2025. At the October 3, 2025, sentencing hearing Judge Estudillo said, “This is a serious offense…The amount of damage it does to the community is probably immeasurable in terms of lives lost and all of the ripple effects from people who are addicted.”

In asking for a seven-year sentence, prosecutors wrote to the court, “Boorkman was a trusted member of a large distribution network responsible for distributing hundreds of pounds of methamphetamine and hundreds of thousands of fentanyl pills. Based on Boorkman’s trusted role in the organization, there is no question that he understood the devastating impact these drugs were having on the community.”

And finally, on October 1, 2025, U.S District Judge Tana Lin sentenced Tacoma resident Marquise Tolbert, 30, to 39 months in prison for drug trafficking and illegal firearms possession. Tolbert pleaded guilty to federal charges in March 2025.

Investigators with the FBI Safe Streets task force, the DEA, and the Seattle Police Gun Violence Reduction Unit were investigating a drug trafficking organization when Tolbert and his coconspirators were heard on a wiretap discussing a shoot-out in Federal Way. From that point on, investigators worked to identify those who were possessing and using firearms as part of their criminal activity. Investigators heard Tolbert discussing his purchase of the Ruger firearm from another member of the conspiracy.  On the day he bought the gun, law enforcement, surveilled Tolbert, followed him to his residence, arrested him, and secured the firearm.

Prior to the federal investigation, in 2020, Tolbert was involved in a shootout at 3rd Avenue and Pine Street in downtown Seattle. One woman was killed, and seven other bystanders were injured in the gun battle. Tolbert was acquitted in state court on murder and assault charges connected to the incident. He was convicted of illegal firearms possession.

The case against Anthony Raymond Dodd was investigated by the Washington State Department of Corrections, the Seattle Police Department, and the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA). The case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Cecelia Gregson and Rachel Yemini.

The case against Philip Boorkman was investigated by the FBI with critical investigative teamwork from the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), and the Washington State Department of Corrections. The case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Zachary Dillon, Max Shiner, and Jehiel Baer.

Marquise Tolbert was investigated by the FBI, the Seattle Police Department, and the DEA as part of their focus on getting firearms off the streets. The case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Stephen Hobbs and Michelle Jensen. 

Tacoma – Two Lacey, Washington, men – both former members of the military – will appear in federal court in Tacoma today at 1:30 PM on a criminal complaint filed in June following a brutal assault on Joint Base Lewis McChord (JBLM), announced U.S. Attorney Charles Neil Floyd. Charles Ethan Fields, 27, and Levi Austin Frakes, 27, have been in custody in Thurston County since their arrest on June 2, 2025. The men are charged federally with robbery, assault, and theft of government property.

According to the criminal complaint, the men entered JBLM around 8PM on June 1, 2025. About an hour after that, a member of the Army discovered them in the Ranger compound. The men were masked and had Army property arrayed around them. When questioned, the men started fighting with the Army member and beat him on the head and torso with a hammer. The victim was able to gain control of the hammer, only to have one of the men pull a knife and brandish it at the victim. The men – later identified as Fields and Frakes, ran from the Ranger compound, and dropped some of the items they allegedly were trying to steal.

Investigators collected evidence at the scene of the thefts and assault and determined the men were trying to steal about $14,000 in government property.

The men were traced to an address in Lacey and law enforcement obtained a warrant to search the residence. Inside they found weapons and military property, including night vision devices, ballistic plates and plate carriers, and helmets; military munitions; and military explosives such as blasting caps, flashbangs, and smoke grenades. Some of the items are restricted and not allowed to be owned or stored in a private residence. Officers also recovered $24,000 in cash.

Assault and theft of government property are each punishable by up to 10 years in prison. Robbery is punishable by up to 15 years in prison.

The charges contained in the criminal complaint are only allegations.  A person is presumed innocent unless and until he or she is proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.

The case is being investigated by the Department of the Army Criminal Investigation Division.

The case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Marci L. Ellsworth. 

Seattle –A Tacoma woman who used her brief employment with the victim credit union to steal account information of customers so that conspirators could take over the accounts and steal the funds, was sentenced today in U.S. District Court in Seattle to 30 m0nths in prison, announced U.S. Attorney Neil Floyd. Aneicia Ford, 32, began stealing account information from some 23 victims within weeks of the start of her employment. At the sentencing hearing U.S. District Judge Jamal N. Whitehead said, “What you did was serious… Your employer trusted you with access to customers’ more personal information…. Real people suffered real harm from the actions that you took.”

According to records filed in the case, between May and August 2022, Aneicia Ford worked out of her Tacoma home as a contact center employee who helped customers with account issues.  In that role, she had access to personally identifying information about customers of the credit union.  Although Ford’s role in the conspiracy was relatively simple, she nonetheless independently analyzed the victims’ accounts to ensure a specific account would be a fruitful and viable target for the conspirators. Only Ford had access to information such as the amount of funds available, or the age or profession of an individual victim. The first account takeover in the scheme occurred just days after Ford completed her training to be a customer service representative for the credit union.

The personally identifying information Ford stole was distributed by 23-year-old codefendant Dangelo Roberts, who with other conspirators used it to access and steal from customer accounts.

Using the stolen account information, Roberts provided other conspirators with false IDs and used them to get debit cards and to make withdrawals from the victims’ accounts, often at the credit union’s branches.  After obtaining increases to the ATM withdrawal limits, the conspirators obtained as much as $25,000 in cash.  The conspirators would also spend victims’ funds by ordering cashier’s checks or purchasing postal money orders that they made payable to other conspirators or their associates.  They used their illegal access to transfer money between accounts and check balances on accounts.

In all, the scheme stole approximately $345,014 from accounts at the victim credit union. The victim credit union suffered that loss, making all the account holders whole.

Ford pleaded guilty on May 20, 2025. Dangelo Roberts was sentenced last month to three years in prison for his role in the scheme.

In asking for a 30-month prison sentence for Ford, prosecutors wrote to the court, “Ford knowingly joined in the conspiracy shortly after starting a new job— following training instructing her not to do precisely what she did—and she contributed to the conspiracy for months. The credit union’s electronic logs demonstrate that Ford accessed the victims’ accounts on multiple occasions throughout the course of her employment (and not, for instance, all 23 accounts at once). The account takeovers in this case could not have occurred without the personally identifying information she stole.”

The case was investigated by the Social Security Administration Office of Inspector General (SSA-OIG) and the FBI.

The case is being prosecuted by Special Assistant United States Attorney Jessica M. Ly.

Seattle – Three different companies settled allegations they applied for and accepted millions of dollars in pandemic loans for which they were not qualified, announced U.S. Attorney Charles Neil Floyd. The companies have agreed to pay back a total of more than $5.4 million in restitution and penalties. The settlements are not an admission of guilt.

The first settlement payment is from Lotte Duty Free Guam LLC. A division of Lotte Hotel Holdings USA LLC. According to the settlement agreement, Lotte Duty Free Guam LLC received two Small Business Administration (SBA) Paycheck Protection Program (PPP) loans. In its application for the loans, Lotte -which operates a duty-free store at the Guam airport, claimed to have fewer than 500 employees making them eligible for the loans.  However, the Guam store is part of a much larger company which has too many employees to qualify for the loans. Lotte will pay $3,437,549 to resolve the matter.

An Everett, Washington company that is a subsidiary of multinational aerospace conglomerate UMBRAGROUP S.p.A will pay $1,424,996 to resolve allegations it had too many employees to qualify for the SBA PPP loan it received.

Finally, Podworks Corporation will pay the government $632,958 for an SBA PPP loan the company received. In April 2025, a relator filed suit in U.S. District Court in Seattle alleging that Podworks did not qualify for the PPP loan because some of its business involves the sale of cannabis which is illegal under federal law. The settlement resolves the allegation.

These civil settlements include the resolution of claims brought under the qui tam or whistleblower provisions of the False Claims Act. Under those provisions, a private party can file an action on behalf of the United States and receive a portion of any recovery.

These resolutions were negotiated by Assistant United States Attorneys Matt Waldrop and Kayla Stahman.