3 convicted of running drug ring that distributed thousands of fentanyl pills in Whatcom
Three men were convicted Tuesday in U.S. District Court in Seattle of trafficking fentanyl disguised as thousands of oxycodone pills in Whatcom, Skagit and Snohomish counties between 2015 and 2018.
As the leader of the drug ring, Bradley Woolard, 42 of Arlington, was convicted on 28 counts involving conspiracy to distribute controlled substances, conspiracy to commit money laundering, money laundering, illegal firearm possession and possession of drugs with the intent to distribute, according to a U.S. Department of Justice news release Wednesday, Aug. 4.
Co-defendants Anthony Palayo, 34 of Marysville, and Jerome Isham, 40 of Everett, were convicted Aug. 3 of conspiracies related to drug distribution and illegal gun possession, the release stated, as the jury deliberated for two days following the 10-day trial.
The three men are scheduled for sentencing by U.S. District Judge John C. Coughenour Nov. 16, according to the release, as conspiracy and possession of fentanyl carries a minimum sentence of 10 years in prison to life, felony possession of a firearm is punishable with up to 10 years and money laundering up to 22 years in prison.
According to testimony during the trial, the case began in 2018 when DEA officers and the Snohomish Regional Drug and Gang Task Force got multiple search warrants for Woolard’s home, according to the release. On July 28, 2018, they found more than 12,000 fentanyl pills designed to look like 30 mg oxycodone prescription narcotics.
The pills, which were blue in color and had an “M” printed on one side and “30” on the other to make them look like prescription pills, tested positive for a furanyl fentanyl, a type of fentanyl, according to the release.
Other searches of Woolard’s five-acre compound uncovered $1 million in cash and gold, including cash hidden behind drywall, in ceilings and outbuildings and in a hole beneath the dishwasher, according to the release.
Investigators also found 29 firearms, ranging from handguns to rifles, and several thousand rounds of ammunition in a hidden room, the release states.
In 2015 and 2016, Woolard began buying fentanyl and furanyl fentanyl powder from China after researching how to do so on the dark web, according to the release. He also bought a pill press and mixing materials from online stores such as Amazon and eBay and taught himself how to make the homemade pills.
Woolard was capable of producing more than 2.5 million fentanyl and furanyl fentanyl pills and regularly provided thousands of pills to others for distribution, according to the release.
In 2017, Woolard turned pill producing duties over to Pelayo, who continued manufacturing them at the compound in rural Snohomish County, according to the release, while Woolard continued to order fentanyl from China and helped Pelayo make and distribute the pills.
Woolard continued to distribute pills while seeking treatment for his own drug addition at spa-like resorts in Costa Rica and Mexico that cost him between $30,000 and $50,000 per month, which he used sales from the drugs to pay for, according to the release.
Isham was one of the drug ring’s top distributors, the release states, as he re-distributed more than 100,000 illegal fentanyl pills between July 2017 and June 2018. He also recruited people to receive shipments of the powdered fentanyl from China.
Woolard and Pelayo paid for the drugs by recruiting co-conspirators to pay for the shipments with bitcoin.
The Whatcom County Drug and Gang Task Force contributed to the investigation, which resulted in a total of 11 people being charged. The other eight already have pleaded guilty, according to the release, and two of them have been sentenced.
