A 35-year-old man from Bellflower, California, who was a leader of a multi-state meth and fentanyl distribution ring, was sentenced to 15 years in prison in U.S. District Court in Seattle for drug trafficking crimes, Acting U.S. Attorney Tessa M. Gorman announced Tuesday.
At the sentencing hearing, U.S. District Judge John C. Coughenour said, “I can’t remember a prior sentencing involving this quantity of methamphetamine.”
The man, identified as Jose Maldonado-Ramirez, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to distribute controlled substances, possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime, and conspiracy to commit money laundering, in March 2023. According to records filed in the case, Maldonado-Ramirez’s narcotics operation was moving drugs from California and distributing them in King, Pierce, Thurston, Lewis, Mason, and Kitsap counties. The drug trafficking organization was also distributing drugs to locations in the southeastern United States, the Midwest, the Northeast and all the way to Fiji.
“Our office tries to combat the fentanyl crisis by identifying and prosecuting high-level operators of large-scale trafficking schemes. This case is a perfect example,” Gorman said. “Maldonado-Ramirez was bringing deadly drugs to communities all over the country. Thanks to our collaboration with agents and local police, we have interrupted his entire operation.”
Over the course of an 18-month investigation, Drug Enforcement Administration agents seized approximately 128 pounds of methamphetamine, 37,000 fentanyl pills and dozens of handguns.
Agents also intercepted a call between Maldonado-Ramirez and his girlfriend after a drug shipment was seized. They were discussing the identity of a local officer and plotting to kill him, according to the government’s sentencing memorandum.
A total of 18 people were arrested and charged in relation to this case, according to the U.S. Department of Justice.
In asking for a sentence of 15 years, Assistant U.S. Attorney C. Andrew Colasurdo said in a statement to the court, “This (drug trafficking organization) was well-organized, well-sourced, and well-connected, and they were prepared to take drastic measures to protect what they had built as they openly discussed killing an officer during an intercepted conversation after a large shipment of drugs was seized.”
This case was part of an Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces investigation. The organization identifies, disrupts and dismantles the highest-level drug traffickers, money launderers, gangs and transnational criminal organizations that threaten the United States by using a prosecutor-led, intelligence-driven, multi-agency approach that leverages the strengths of federal, state and local law enforcement agencies against criminal networks.
The investigation was led by the Drug Enforcement Administration and included assistance from local law enforcement agencies, including the Joint Narcotics Enforcement Team, Centralia and Chehalis police and the Washington State Patrol, among others.
