WA man sentenced 10 years for role as ‘right-hand man’ of drug ring
SEATTLE - A Monroe, Washington man was sentenced to 10 years in prison for serving as the "right-hand man" of a deadly opioid trafficking ring operating across western Washington.
Humberto Garcia, 42, was sentenced Friday in the U.S. District Court in Seattle for conspiracy to distribute controlled substances. Garcia was arrested in Dec. 2020 along with seven others in connection to the criminal ring, which prosecutors say distributed heroin, meth and fentanyl around Puget Sound.
"Despite the fact that you had addiction, you were involved in distributing very dangerous drugs," said Judge Jones during Garcia's sentencing hearing. "You were a willing and capable participant with loyalty to the drug ring leader."
Garcia provided a gun for the operation's ringleader, Jose Luis Ibarra-Valle, who was sentenced in 2023 to nine years in prison. Ibarra-Valle needed the gun to kill another dealer who owed him money. Ibarra-Valle was stopped by authorities in California after returning from a drug run, and police found some 10,000 fentanyl pills, more than eight kilograms of meth and more than a kilogram of heroin.
"Mr. Garcia played an important role in the conspiracy, acting as a drug redistributor, local guide, interpreter, and link to other drug dealers," said U.S. Attorney Tessa M. Gorman. "He continued to distribute fentanyl even after learning of a customer overdose death. His conduct contributed to the huge spike of fentanyl overdoses in our community."
Garcia is the last of the eight people to be sentenced in this case, and was the only case that went to trial, prosecutors say.
"The wiretap revealed that Ibarra-Valle had excellent connections to sources of supply in California and/or Mexico for drugs, but little to no local knowledge of the drug market or customers here in Western Washington and no English skills. Garcia, by contrast, knew the area, knew the local drug market, and speaks both English and Spanish. As such, he was ideally placed to help Ibarra-Valle sell his product here in this District… Garcia’s possession of a firearm of course increased the danger he posed to the community," prosecutors wrote to the court.
After his 10-year term, Garcia will be on five years of supervised release.
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