A 67-year-old man was convicted of three felonies in U.S. District Court in Seattle for attempting to smuggle duffle bags containing methamphetamine and fentanyl on July 26, according to a news release from U.S. Attorney Tessa M. Gorman.
A six-day trial resulted in the conviction of John Michael Sherwood, a former resident of Rhode Island, Texas and Chicago, for conspiracy to distribute controlled substances, possession of controlled substances with intent to distribute and conspiracy to commit international money laundering.
The jury reached the guilty verdict in three hours. Sherwood’s sentencing was scheduled for Oct. 29 by Judge James L. Robart.
Sherwood brought the drugs up the Olympic Peninsula from southern California, according to testimony and evidence revealed in the trial. He attempted to cross the strait of Juan De Fuca bordering Washington and Canada on a Jet Ski and inflatable raft to bring the drugs to his contact at Vancouver Island.
A family found a partially submerged duffle bag with more than 50 pounds of methamphetamine and two pounds of fentanyl powder on a beach near Port Angeles on April 7, 2021.
Soon after, one beach visitor found the deflated raft and noticed a U-Haul traveling around the area.
Another person found seven duffle bags under a bridge by the beach. The bags had 342 pounds of methamphetamine with an estimated wholesale value of $1.5 million in Canada.
The FBI traced the duffle bags to a purchase at Walmart on Sherwood’s debit card. U-Haul rental records, motel registration, phone records with his co-conspirator and storage locker records further linked him to the smuggling attempt.
