A 37-year-old Lakewood man described by federal prosecutors as the leader of a drug-trafficking organization with a decade-long history of moving methamphetamine into Washington has been sentenced to eight years in prison.
Jesus Venegas-Gatica was one of five people who faced drug-trafficking charges for their roles in the organization, which, according to court records in U.S. District Court, was responsible for moving and distributing 20-25 kilograms (44 to 55 pounds) of meth to the state each month through a series of redistributors.
Venegas-Gatica pleaded guilty April 26 to possession with intent to distribute controlled substances, court records show. On Friday, Judge David Estudillo in Tacoma sentenced the defendant to 97 months.
Prosecutors said the ring, which was run by the Venegas-Gatica family, trafficked large amounts of meth into Washington since at least 2012. After investigators seized 70 pounds of meth, firearms and $120,000 in drug money from various members of the organization in 2013, prosecutors said Venegas-Gatica laid low for several months before continuing to distribute narcotics under a different name.
In early 2022, Drug Enforcement Administration agents learned through confidential sources that Venegas-Gatica and others had restarted the trafficking enterprise, according to a sentencing memorandum. When Venegas-Gatica and his four co-defendants were indicted in June 2023, prosecutors alleged that the defendants conducted large-scale meth deals in Pierce, Thurston, Lewis, Cowlitz and Grays Harbor counties.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Zachary Dillon wrote in court records that Venegas-Gatica had chosen to profit off the addiction, pain and suffering of others despite clear risks to the community and his customers.
"Drug addiction is a growing problem in this country, which destroys the lives of not only those who use them, but also their families and friends who are stuck as prisoners, forced to watch the toll these drugs take on their sons, daughters, parents, or friends," Dillon wrote.
Courier brought meth to Washington on Amtrak
After investigators learned that the drug ring was active again, DEA agents tracked Venegas-Gatica and his sister to a hotel in Stockholm, California. On March 30, 2022, the defendant met with a supplier and packed 25 kilograms of meth into two suitcases.
He then paid a courier $400 to move the drugs to Washington on an Amtrak train. The transport was thwarted by law enforcement, which seized the suitcases at a train station in Kelso.
In May 2022, Venegas-Gatica sent money to California for another large shipment of methamphetamine. Prosecutors said a courier delivered 20 kilograms of meth to the defendant for $3,800 on May 10. One kilogram was sold to a local drug dealer, three kilograms went to one of Venegas-Gatica's redistributors, and he kept the rest to sell for profit.
The day after the delivery, investigators served a search warrant on an apartment where the defendant had been living, near Steilacoom Boulevard Southwest and 88th Street Court West. Inside, law enforcement found the remaining 16 kilograms (35 pounds) of meth inside a suitcase.
Venegas-Gatica's prison sentence was the lengthiest of the five defendants sentenced as part of the organization. The defendant's brother, Jose Venegas-Gatica, 36, pleaded guilty April 26 to distribution of a controlled substance. He was described as a "dispatcher" who organized drug deals and insulated his brother from detection by law enforcement. He was sentenced July 11 to about seven years in prison.
Two men who worked as redistributors, Cristobal Venegas-Diaz, of Centralia, and Juan Tolentino-Chino, of Astoria, Oregon, pleaded guilty to distribution charges in 2023. Venegas-Diaz was sentenced March 31, 2023 to six-and-a-half years in prison. Tolentino-Chino was sentenced July 7, 2023 to five years.
One man was sentenced to 15 months in prison for being a courier for the drug ring. Esteban Martinez-Ortiz, a citizen of Mexico, pleaded guilty in December 2022 to possession of a controlled substance with intent to distribute and was sentenced March 3, 2023.
Defense disputes leadership status
Venegas-Gatica's defense attorney, Bryan Hershman, an attorney based in Tacoma, contested that his client was a leader in the organization. He wrote in a sentencing memorandum that decisions on selling drugs and how to distribute them were shared among Venegas-Gatica and his co-conspirators.
Prosecutors said Venegas-Gatica admitted to having a "commanding and controlling role" in the organization, but Hershman argued that the defendant didn't have control over his co-defendants, and there was no evidence he did recruitment or claimed a right to a larger share of the proceeds from their activities.
"The nature of Mr. Venegas-Gatica's participation in the commission of the offense is not that of a leader casting orders with demanding influence, but rather partaking in the same conduct as his counterparts, who the Government mistakenly deem as under his control," Hershman wrote.
Ultimately, Estudillo found that Venegas-Gatica served in a leadership role and applied a related sentencing enhancement, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office for the Western District of Washington.
The punishment Venegas-Gatica received was below the sentencing guideline range of about 21 to 27 years in prison. Prosecutors recommended the court impose a nine-year sentence, citing his lack of criminal convictions and his personal history of growing up in poverty with a physically abusive father.
Venegas-Gatica moved to Rochester at the age of 20, according to his defense attorney, after saving money to move to the United States for a better life. As a child, he had worked in fruit fields to help feed his family while also enduring domestic abuse at home. In Rochester, he worked in Christmas tree fields and later as a laborer.
Prosecutors were sympathetic to the challenges the defendant faced but wrote in court records that he had thrown away his opportunity to leave his life of poverty. According to the sentencing memo, Venegas-Gatica was caught with large amounts of meth several times but escaped prosecution by returning to Mexico.
"At that time, he could have left his drug dealing ways behind. Instead, he returned under a false identity and continued to build his drug trafficking network, all while a fugitive from justice," Dillon wrote.
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