A 38-year-old Grays Harbor County man was recently sentenced in U.S. District Court in Tacoma to 10 years in prison for two counts of possession of controlled substances with intent to distribute, U.S. Attorney Charles Neil Floyd announced in a news release.
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, 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.”
According to records in the case, on Nov. 14, 2023, Armas was found slumped over the wheel of a car in a parking lot in Ocean Shores. 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, according to the release.
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 on the night of Nov. 19, 2023. On the morning of Nov. 20, 2023, the person sharing the cell with Armas was found unresponsive and later died despite lifesaving efforts. An autopsy revealed the man died from acute heroin, olanzapine and mirtazapine intoxication.
On Nov. 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 Jan. 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 asking for a 10-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 the Grays Harbor Sheriff’s Office.
The case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Max Shiner.
