A 46-year-old man from Spanaway was sentenced to 12 years in prison for his leadership role in a drug distribution ring that trafficked fentanyl and methamphetamine in the Puget Sound region, according to a statement from U.S. Attorney Tessa M. Gorman.
Sean Michael Moinette has been in custody since March 2023 following a large-scale investigation that resulted in the arrest of over two dozen individuals, some with ties to Aryan prison gangs.
At the sentencing hearing, Chief U.S. District Judge David G. Estudillo said that the impact of drug trafficking on the community is “almost immeasurable.”
According to court records, Moinette acted as a mid-level manager in a drug distribution cell connected to the Aryan Family and Omerta prison gangs.
A wiretap investigation during the summer of 2022 revealed that Moinette regularly purchased large quantities of methamphetamine, fentanyl powder, and fentanyl-laced pills.
Despite being told by his supplier that his fentanyl was causing overdoses, Moinette continued distributing large quantities of the substance.
U.S. Attorney Gorman said, “This defendant was deeply involved in distributing drugs, arranging couriers, and seeking various sources of supply. But when confronted with the information that his fentanyl was too strong and causing overdoses, he did not skip a beat and continued to scheme about moving his poison in our community.”
In other recorded calls, Moinette discussed using women as “live shipping containers” to transport fentanyl out of state and also considered transporting drugs by airplane to Alaska.
Judge Estudillo described Moinette’s plans as more than “just talk.”
After law enforcement impounded a car driven by a drug redistributor, Moinette was heard on wiretaps devising a plan to break into the police impound lot to recover the drugs, though this did not occur.
A coordinated law enforcement operation on March 22, 2023, involving ten SWAT teams and over 350 officers led to the arrest of the drug conspiracy members.
During that raid, officers seized 177 firearms, more than ten kilos of methamphetamine, 11 kilos of fentanyl pills, over a kilo of fentanyl powder, three kilos of heroin, and more than $330,000 in cash from eighteen locations across Washington and Arizona.
In total, throughout the two-year investigation, authorities seized an estimated 223 pounds of methamphetamine, 830,000 fentanyl pills, multiple-pound quantities of fentanyl powder, cocaine, heroin, and marijuana, $338,000 of suspected drug proceeds, and 48 firearms.
Prosecutors argued for a 13-year sentence, noting that Moinette continued to distribute fentanyl despite knowing of its deadly consequences and used threats of violence to force his couriers to transport the drugs. In one instance, Moinette threatened to stab a courier, who responded, “I know.”
Moinette is the eighth member of the drug ring to be sentenced. Other defendants have received sentences ranging from 14 months to 13 years in prison. Drug ringleader Jesse James Bailey pleaded guilty last November and is scheduled for sentencing on February 28.
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