California man sentenced in Tacoma for drug trafficking in Washington – KIRO 7 News Seattle

Lina PortmanJune 8, 2024

15 2 minutes read

TACOMA, Wash. — A California man was sentenced Thursday in Tacoma to 66 months in prison and four years of supervised release for trafficking fentanyl and laundering drug money in Washington, as well as smuggling people across the border between the United States and Mexico.

U.S. Attorney Tessa M. Gorman announced Friday that Andre Jackson, 28, was identified as a major distributor of narcotics in the Kitsap and Pierce county areas. At the sentencing hearing, Chief U.S. District Judge David G. Estudillo said, “Drug trafficking is of course dangerous” and when you get into human trafficking, “you make money from vulnerable people.”

According to records filed in the case, Jackson was in contact with a Mexico-based supply source named “Pacheco.” Working under Pacheco's direction, Jackson coordinated the delivery of drugs from California to Washington before returning drug profits to Pacheco and his associates in Mexico.

Sometimes, Jackson delivered drugs in person from California to Washington. In one case, Jackson delivered approximately 3,500 fentanyl pills across the state to someone working with law enforcement at the Tacoma Mall. Later that day, he made a second, smaller drug delivery to a co-defendant in a grocery store parking lot in Bremerton.

The investigation also revealed that Jackson transferred drug proceeds from several locations in Bremerton and Silverdale to people in Mexico. Throughout August, September, and October 2021, Jackson sent money to sources in Mexico from various locations in Kitsap and Pierce counties.

During the drug and money laundering investigation, agents discovered that Jackson had also been smuggling noncitizens across the U.S. and Mexico border. Jackson used various social media channels to recruit drivers to smuggle noncitizens across the border or pick them up near the border and drive them north. A number of recruited drivers have been apprehended by law enforcement with non-citizens in their cars.

Jackson was indicted and arrested in November 2022. In February 2024, he pleaded guilty to conspiracy to distribute controlled substances, conspiracy to commit money laundering, and conspiracy to transport certain non-citizens to lucrative purposes.

Jason Baker (61 month sentence), Ashley Chico (18 month sentence) and John Irias-Mejia (18 month sentence) were also charged in connection with this investigation.

In asking for a 6-year prison sentence, Assistant U.S. Attorney Stephen Hobbs wrote to the court: “More fundamentally, Jackson was involved in the distribution of significant quantities of fentanyl pills and likely other drugs. The Court is certainly aware of the dangers that controlled substances – particularly fentanyl – pose to those who use them. But Jackson was more than just a street dealer or courier. He was in direct contact with the DTO leader in Mexico and played an important and knowledgeable role in transporting the drugs from California to Washington, distributing the drugs in that state, and returning the profits to Mexico.