BELLINGHAM — Two men involved in a drug deal-turnedmurder in Happy Valley last year were sentenced to more than 20 years each in prison Thursday.
Marcus M. Johnson was sentenced to a little more than 24 years, and Arthur T. Scott was sentenced to 22½ years for the murder of 26-year-old Ryan F. Anderson.
Police say Everett residents Johnson, 26, and Scott, 28, arranged to buy a quarter pound of cocaine from Anderson the evening of April 2, 2007, with the intention of robbing Anderson of the drugs. The pair met Anderson at his 22nd Street apartment that evening. Scott shot the former Ferndale Little Caesars assistant manager in the head at point-blank range. Johnson and Scott then fled with the drugs.
The two men pleaded guilty to second-degree murder in the case in March. Their attorneys agreed with the sentence suggested by Prosecutor Dave McEachran and approved by Whatcom County Superior Court Judge Ira Uhrig.
Though Scott pulled the trigger that evening, Johnson got the longer sentence because he had a longer criminal history, which made for a longer range of sentencing under the Washington State Sentencing Guidelines.
Uhrig, during Thursday’s sentencing, said Anderson was “shot in cold blood” and that the murder was “not an accident by any extent of the imagination.”
“You took the life of Ryan Anderson, took his whole future — all his hopes and all his dreams,” Uhrig said. “Mr. Anderson’s life was worth far more than this ... and your lives were worth far more than this. I hope this haunts you for the rest of your lives.”
Kristina DeLaney, Anderson’s mother, spoke at the hearing of her son’s kindness and inner strength.
“He was a happy, kind, lovable, compassionate young man that did not deserve this,” DeLaney said.
Anderson’s friends and family packed the courtroom, some wearing shirts bearing his picture. The hearing featured extra security and a temporary metal detector outside the courtroom doors after family members on both sides of the case had to be restrained by police during two earlier hearings.
Neither Scott nor Johnson chose to use their opportunity to address the court. Starck Follis, the attorney representing Johnson, said the men didn’t intend the incident to end in murder.
“There was no … plan to do Anderson harm,” Follis said. “This was either a drug transaction or robbery that went terribly wrong.”
Police say Johnson and Scott were with Anderson in a back room of the apartment that night when Johnson pulled out a Taser and Scott the handgun. Anderson was also armed that evening, but that gun was not taken out of its holster during the incident, McEachran said.
Pat Lakey, the attorney representing Scott, said the father of four was there backing up Johnson, his brother-in-law, in the planned robbery. Lakey noted that the prison term means Scott will not see his kids grow up and said Scott regrets his part in the murder.
“He looks at the situation and wonders what the heck he was doing there,” Lakey said.
Both Scott and Johnson had prior robbery convictions. Scott also had two drug convictions while Johnson had several convictions for possession of stolen property.
Uhrig closed the hearing by noting that the whole situation could have been avoided if all three men — Anderson, Scott and Johnson — had not been involved in the drug trade.
“If any of you are doing drugs or know someone who is doing drugs or is selling drugs — make them stop that,” Uhrig told friends and family in the courtroom. “No good can come from this except for the good that each of you does as a result of this.”