Bail is set at $500,000 for a Centralia man accused of selling a significant amount of meth between February and November.
The man, identified as Michael David Deal, 41, was arrested and booked into the Lewis County Jail at 2:15 p.m. on Tuesday, Nov. 21, after the Joint Narcotics Enforcement Team (JNET) executed search warrants on two properties and a vehicle in Lewis County.
The warrants were the culmination of a JNET investigation that was active as of Feb. 1 and involved two other people, Jose Francisco Lopez Jr., 46, of Everett, and Aniesa Lee Stamper, 27, of Chehalis, according to court documents filed in Lewis County Superior Court. The documents indicate JNET initially investigated Deal in 2021 for allegations he was selling meth and heroin.
He was charged in May 2021 with two counts of delivery of a controlled substance, one count of possession of meth with intent to manufacture or deliver and one count of possession of heroin with intent to manufacture or deliver, according to court documents, which indicate he posted $25,000 bail the same day his case was filed. He was arrested for a new delivery of a controlled substance charge in June 2021, and subsequently posted $100,000 bail.
During a JNET controlled operation conducted between Feb. 1 and Nov. 21 of 2023, Deal allegedly provided meth to Lopez and Stamper. Both are accused of selling the meth they allegedly got from Deal to “a confidential source,” according to court documents.
“As the investigation continued, Michael Deal, Jose Francisco Lopez and Aniesa Stamper worked in tandem while selling methamphetamine within the boundaries of Lewis County,” a deputy prosecutor with the Lewis County Prosecutor’s Office stated in charging documents filed in Lewis County Superior Court.
At approximately 6:10 a.m. on Nov. 21, 2023, JNET executed search warrants on a residential shop in the 3100 block of Zenkner Valley Road in Centralia where Deal lived, a trailer occupied by Lopez and Stamper in the 800 block of Cousins Road in rural Chehalis, and a Chevrolet S-10 Blazer registered to Lopez.
Members of the Centralia Police Department’s critical response unit aided JNET in executing the warrants.
Law enforcement personnel reportedly “verbally hailed Deal with the PA” and ‘deployed two flash bangs at the Zenkner Road property “to get him (Deal) to exit,” according to court documents. After a detective saw “a plume of smoke emitting from the chimney of the shop, leading investigators to believe that Deal was destroying evidence,” the critical response unit breached the shop’s primary door. In doing so, it was noted that Deal had fortified the door. Law enforcement personnel arrested Deal “without issue” once they got inside the shop.
Detectives reportedly later learned Deal had “burned at least one cellphone.”
In searching the shop, law enforcement personnel found two 9 mm pistols equipped with suppressors, one of which had a loaded magazine, as well as over an ounce of meth “laying on a plate in plain view of the shop,” and a calibration weight used with digital scales. Law enforcement also “obtained access” to a rifle safe inside the shop, which contained $13,000 in cash. Deal allegedly told law enforcement “that the money and the safe were his” and “that $4,000 of the money was debt owed to his source of supply and the rest was intended to be used to get more controlled substances,” according to court documents.
When further questioned by law enforcement, Deal allegedly “admitted that he obtains between 10 and 15 pounds of methamphetamine per week and sells it all to customers in Lewis County,” and said “he had just run out had had plans of getting up to 13 pounds of methamphetamine on today’s date (Nov. 22),” according to court documents.
Lopez and Stamper were arrested at the Cousins Road property when JNET executed its search warrant there on Nov. 21.
Lewis County Jail records indicate they were booked at approximately 9 a.m. on Nov. 21.
A search of the trailer reportedly yielded 16.5 grams of meth, and a search of Lopez’ vehicle yielded 180 grams of meth, packaging, a digital scale and a calibration weight, according to court documents.
Detectives reportedly later learned the trailer, which is valued at “well over $5,000,” was stolen. When questioned about the trailer, Deal allegedly said he purchased it four or five months prior and later learned it was stolen, but never reported it, according to court documents. JNET reportedly saw Deal move the trailer from his property on Nov. 4 and noted “it was obvious that Deal moved the camper on November 4 because he was spooked.” When asked “what spooked him,” Deal allegedly said “a friend said he was being watched by JNET,” according to court documents.
Deal, Lopez and Stamper each face one count each of delivery of a controlled substance and possession of a controlled substance with intent to manufacture or deliver. Stamper faces an additional count of escape from community custody.
Bail for Stamper and Lopez is set at $50,000 each.
Arraignment hearings for all three co-defendants are scheduled for Thursday, Nov. 30.
