Pierce County has agreed to pay $100,000 to settle a federal lawsuit brought by the parents of a man who committed suicide in the jail.

The county admitted no fault in reaching the settlement with Ralph Close and Laura Larson, according to documents filed this week in U.S. District Court.

Close and Larson sued in January, claiming the county should have done more to supervise the incarceration of their son, James Robert Close.

The 30-year-old Sequim resident died June 16, 2006, shortly after being booked into the jail for investigation of bank robbery.

His parents claimed county jailers did not adequately monitor their son even though his history of mental illness and previous suicide attempts were noted on his booking sheet.

Close used a bed sheet to hang himself in his cell.

A 38-year-old Tacoma man with a history of gang activity was sentenced to more than eight years in federal prison Friday for dealing Oxycontin, the U.S. Attorney's Office reported.

Ronald Flemings pleaded guilty in April to one count of possessing Oxycodone with intent to distribute.

Agents arrested Flemings in October after setting up a drug buy with him in Federal Way, according to a news release issued by federal prosecutors.

Flemings previously served time for murder and assault and has ties to multiple gangs, the release stated.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Lisca Borichewski told District Court Judge Marsha Pechman that Flemings has "shown a pattern of violence intertwined with drugs that threatens the safety of the community."

A woman who convinced nearly two dozen Tacoma-area residents to file false income-tax returns has pleaded guilty to a federal charge.

Deborah S. Satcher pleaded guilty Friday in U.S. District Court in Tacoma to one count of false claims conspiracy.

Satcher faces up to 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine when she's sentenced Oct. 23, according to court records.

Her husband, Darryl Satcher, pleaded Friday to two counts of false claims and faces up to five years in prison and $250,000 fine. He, too, is to be sentenced Oct. 23.

Federal prosecutors contend in court records that Deborah Satcher recruited 22 people to file false returns in order to claim refunds for which they were not entitled. She also helped prepare the returns and collected a fee for her work, the records state.

Between 2004 and 2006, Satcher helped submit claims for refunds totaling more than $130,000, according to court documents. Darryl Satcher was convicted of filing two false claims during that time, the records state.

"When the individuals who defendant Deborah S. Satcher had recruited received refunds issued by the IRS, they typically paid defendant Deborah S. Satcher an agreed upon fee of between $200 and $1,000," a federal indictment in the case states.

A federal judge in Seattle on Friday sentenced a Tacoma man to two years, three months in federal prison for embezzling more than $300,000 from a Kent company that ultimately went out of business.

Christopher W. Phillips, 63, previously was convicted of mail fraud.

From 2002 to 2005, Phillips worked as the chief financial officer of Vitech, a firm that manufactured breath mints and breath strips.

Federal prosecutors contended that Phillips used his company credit card for personal use – paying for lavish trips, fancy dinners and luxury merchandise – and paid his personal bills with company money.

"Vitech's owners ultimately had to sell the business for a fraction of its worth," according to a news release issued by the U.S. Attorney's Office in Seattle.

Before pronouncing sentence, U.S. District Judge Richard A. Jones said Phillips turned "thievery into an act of entitlement" and that his actions were "a substantial and major factor in termination and loss of this business."

Federal, state and local law enforcement officials say they've busted another drug trafficking organization that was bringing methamphetamine and cocaine into Washington from Mexico.

The results of the 14-month investigation into the vast drug trafficking network were announced this morning at a press conference.

Officials say they have arrested 31 people, including eight from Pierce County, as part of "Operation Arctic Chill," the Immigration and Customs Enforcement agency reported today. Federal drug charges have been filed against 20 of the people arrested. Another three will be charged and arraigned this afternoon.

Investigators say those arrested are part of the Oseguera-Chavez Drug Trafficking Organization.

According to an ICE press release, the leader of the organization is Martin Oseguera-Chavez of Roy. He's believed to be responsible for buying meth and cocaine from dealers in California and Mexico. The drugs were then distributed through other members of the drug trafficking organization.

The drugs were transported along the Interstate 5 corridor in the hidden compartments of vehicles, federal authorities report.

"Members of the DTO sought to conceal their actions, speaking with each other in coded language to describe the drugs, calling crystal methamphetamine 'clothes' or 'blind man' and referring to poor quality drugs as 'stretched' or 'bruised,'" the press release states.

Law enforcement officials have executed more than 35 search warrants over the past two weeks. In Washington, the warrants were served in Carnation, Federal Way, Lynnwood, Olympia, Puyallup, Rainier, Roy, Tacoma, Vancouver and Yelm. Another warrant was executed in Oakdale, Calif., where investigators found an idle meth lab and a pound of meth.

Law enforcement officials also seized more than 19 pounds of meth, a quarter pound of cocaine, $60,000 in cash, 22 vehicles and 23 firearms.

"The success of this joint operation is measured by the fact that we successfully dismantled a criminal drug trafficking organization from the top down," Leigh Winchell, special agent in charge of ICE's Office of Investigations, said in a press release. "ICE will continue to partner with DEA and others to more effectively investigate these organizations - from smuggler to distributor - and bring to bear the complete complement of law enforcement’s authorities on this threat to our communities."

Here's a list of who has been charged, their age and their residence when they there arrested. ICE officials are not commenting on the immigration status of any of the defendants because of the criminal investigation, spokeswoman Lorie Dankers said.

Arrested Tuesday:
Martin Oseguera Chavez, 50, Roy
Maria Oseguera Lopez, 50, Roy
Maria Del Socorro Oseguera Oseguera, 33, Lynnwood
Baldemar Huerta Galvan, 28, Lynnwood
Alberto Rosales Torres, 39, Tacoma
Erika Oseguera Oseguera, 26, Yelm
Rosalinda Oseguera Lopez, 44, Roy
Doug Alfonso, 48, Olympia
Rigoberto Farias Contreras, 46, Carnation
Daniel Camarena, 30, Tacoma,
Miguel Mora Esquivel, 36, Federal Way
Harold Wesley Moreland, 59, Olympia
Gabriela Ludmila Safr, 28, Tacoma
Crescenciano Yanez Bucio, 30, Yelm
Bernardo Salazar Ponce, 28, Roy

Arrested Monday
Juan Pablo Rincon-Lopez, 30, Tacoma

Arrested June 13
Juan Antonio Trejo-Lopez, 30, Elma
Juan Trejo-Lopez, 37, Elma
Gregorio Gomez-Lopez, 34, Mossyrock
Eduardo Martinez, 27, Elma

In addition to ICE and DEA, the following agencies were part of the investigation: Auburn Police Department, Bonney Lake Police Department, Centralia Police Department, Federal Way Police Department, Gray’s Harbor Task Force, Pierce County Sheriff’s Office, Puyallup Police Department, South Snohomish Drug Task Force, Tacoma Police Department, Tahoma Narcotics Enforcement Team, Washington Department of Corrections and Washington State Patrol.

Photo courtesy of the AP

Last year, federal, state and local law enforcement agencies busted another sizable drug cartel that was bringing meth into the state from Mexico. Find my story about that bust below.

=> Read more!

A federal judge on Monday sentenced a Mexican national convicted of trafficking methamphetamine in Western Washington to more than seven years in prison.

Herminio Barragan Mendoza, 36, previously pleaded guilty to conspiracy to distribute meth and being an alien in possession of a firearm. He faces deportation following his prison term.

Federal prosecutors said Mendoza lived in Olympia and owned a farm near Roy at the time of his arrest.

He was one of 22 people arrested in April 2008 following a lengthy police investigation. More than 300 law enforcement officers served 20 search warrants and seized meth, guns and cash in raids in multiple counties.

Federal prosecutors said Mendoza was one of the leaders of the trafficking ring, and assistant U.S. Attorney Matthew Thomas asked Monday for a 10-year term for him.

Mendoza's defense attorney, Phil Brennan of Seattle, asked for a sentence just short of six years, saying his client had no prior convictions and that the government's claims that he was a leader of the ring were dubious. Mendoza lived in a rented house and drove used cars, Brennan argued in court documents.

U.S. District Court Judge Benjamin Settle settled on a sentence of seven years, four months. The judge also ordered Mendoza to forfeit his Roy farm to the government.

A federal jury today found a Canadian citizen guilty of helping his half-brother steal nearly $3 million in merchandise from the U.S. government, the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Seattle reported.

The jury, seated in Tacoma, deliberated for about 10 hours following a three-week trial before convicting Bradley A.G. Garner of wire fraud, theft of honest services, mail fraud and unlawful monetary transaction.

Garner, 51, faces up to 20 years in prison when he’s sentenced on Sept. 28.

A grand jury indicted Garner and Steven B. Smith, a former technician with the Federal Aviation Administration, in February.

Federal prosecutors contend that Smith used his position to steal nearly $3 million in public property, including boats, computers and an airplane.

He’s pleaded not guilty and is scheduled to go to trial in October.

Prosecutors accuse Smith of putting illegitimate claims on surplus government property, which Garner then picked up for the pair to either use or sell.

Authorities believe the brothers illegally obtained some 200 items over a four-year period.

Garner’s case was prosecuted in Tacoma because some of the stolen merchandise came from federal agencies with offices in Western Washington or was processed through Fort Lewis.

According to court records, a government property-disposal specialist based in Auburn became suspicious of Smith and reported him.

In November, more than 40 federal agents and local law enforcement officers raided several locations in Southern California, seizing more than $1 million in property and arresting Smith and Garner.

Five South King County family members were sentenced to prison today for growing thousands of marijuana plants inside houses in Kent, Federal Way and Des Moines, the U.S. Attorney’s Office reported.

The five men, all Vietnamese immigrants, were among 17 family members initially arrested after a Drug Enforcement Agency raid last September.

Ton Chi Duong, 60, of Kent, characterized by prosecutors as the family patriarch, received a five-year sentence, enhanced because police found a firearm in his grow house.

Bao V. Duong, 54, of Federal Way received a 42-month sentence, also enhanced by a firearms charge. Police found an AK-47 assault rifle in his house.

Also sentenced Friday were Hoi Van Ngo, 41, of Des Moines; Dung Duong, 31, of Kent; and Frank Vuu, 48 of Kent, all of whom were sentenced to 18 months.

Three additional family members have been charged in the case. One of them has entered a guilty plea and is scheduled to be sentenced in July, according to federal prosecutors.

Law enforcement officers arrested the family members after conducting raids on 13 South King County houses on Sept. 10, 2008.

Officers seized more than 5,000 pot plants and more than $70,000 in cash, along with the two weapons.

According to his lawyer, Ton Chi Duong fought with American forces during the Vietnam War and was badly wounded. He fled to the United States after escaping from a Communist prison camp.

He turned to marijuana growing after a landscaping business faltered, his attorney said.

(This item was contributed by TNT staff writer Rob Carson)

A federal grand jury has indicted five real estate professionals - four of whom live in the South Sound area - in connection with a complex mortgage fraud scheme that cheated banks and property sellers out of more than $18 million.

The five indicted are: Humberto Reyes-Rodriguez (who also goes by Tony Reyes), 42 of Federal Way; Alexis Ikilikyan (also known as Haikanush Ikilikyan), 29, of Auburn; William S. Poff, 37, of Michigan; Micki S. Thompson, 54, of Tacoma; and Mario A. Marroquin, a 38-year-old Kent resident.

The grand jury indicted the five on charges of conspiracy to commit bank and wire fraud and money laundering, according to a press release from the U.S. Attorney's Office. The case was investigated by U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.

Investigators arrested the five Wednesday. Each made a court appearance Wednesday afternoon.

According to federal authorities, the accused got financing from banks and, in some cases, from sellers. The sellers were convinced to extend private loans for a portion of the purchase price, the press release states.

"These private loans, which were not disclosed to the banks, as well as a web of fictitious rental companies, allowed the conspirators to obtain loan proceeds far beyond the value of the assets securing those loans, and beyond their ability to pay," the press release states.

The transactions took place across the Puget Sound region, including in Des Moines, Tacoma, Seattle, Puyallup, Spanaway, SeaTac, Auburn, Bellevue, Renton, Lakewood, Fircrest, Kent, Pacific and Issaquah.

The press release provides this information from the indictment:

REYES-RODRIGUEZ and ALEXIS IKILIKYAN worked as both licensed real estate agents and mortgage loan originators. ALEXIS IKILIKYAN’s ex-husband, WILLIAM S. POFF was a licensed notary and worked as a loan originator. MICKI S. THOMPSON was an employee of Great American Escrow who acted as the closing officer for many of the fraudulent sales.

Between 2005 and 2008, the conspirators used straw buyers to purchase and resell properties, obtaining more than 80 loans totaling more than $18 million. The conspirators submitted a variety of false information to the banks such as employment, income, citizenship status, assets and liabilities. The conspirators also submitted false appraisals and created fictitious companies that were allegedly doing repair work on the properties. Money at closing would go to these entities that, in reality, had done no work on the property. Defendant MARIO A. MARROQUIN headed fictitious repair companies and acted as a straw buyer.

In this scheme, the conspirators did not just damage banks and financial institutions. Innocent sellers were harmed when they agreed to loan the buyer a portion of the purchase price, to be paid back over time. The sellers did not know that the conspirators had already obtained 100 percent financing from commercial lenders. When payments were not made and properties fell into foreclosure, and then were sold for less than the total of all loans secured by the property, the sellers holding private notes were left with nothing.

The five face up to 20 years in prison and $1 million in fines if convicted as charged.

A Fort Lewis sergeant accused in Pierce County Superior Court of promoting prostitution involving two teenage girls now faces federal charges.

Sgt. Sterling Terrance Hospedales, 26, has been charged in U.S. District Court with sex trafficking of a child and attempted sex trafficking of a child, according to a press release from the U.S. District Attorney's Office. He will make his first federal court appearance this afternoon.

In April, Pierce County prosecutors charged Hospedales, an infantryman originally from Florida, with two counts of first-degree promoting prostitution. He's been confined to the Pierce County Jail, awaiting trial since.

Pierce County prosecutors dismissed the charges against Hospedales on Friday to make way for the federal charges.

At the time of his arrest, Hospedales was assigned to the 4th Stryker Brigade Combat Team and had been stationed at Fort Lewis since March 2005.

The Innocence Lost Task Force, a federal task force that focuses on sex trafficking of children, investigated the case against Hospedales. The task force received a tip about a teenage runaway from Seattle who was posting ads on Craigslist, the online classified advertising site, that indicated she was involved in prostitution.

Investigators found the 17-year-old girl and a 16-year-old girl from Wyoming.

"The first juvenile ultimately admitted that she worked as a prostitute out of an apartment Hospedales had obtained for her, that Hospedales had helped her post advertisements for prostitution with pictures of herself on Craig’s List, and that she provided the money she earned from prostituting to Hospedales," the press release from the U.S. District Attorney's Office states. "The second juvenile had flown to the area from Wyoming with her plane ticket paid for by Hospedales. The second girl stated that she had only been in town a week, and had taken pictures to post on Craig’s List for prostitution purposes, but had not started earning money for Hospedales."

If convicted of the federal charges, Hospedales faces a minimum of 10 years to life in prison, $250,000 in fines and five years of supervised release.

James Russell Knox admits he’s one of those people who never seem to learn.

The serial bank robber got himself labeled a “career offender” Monday in U.S. District Court in Tacoma and was sent off to prison for another 14 years, this time for the 2008 robbery of the Gig Harbor branch of Kitsap Bank.

Knox, 52, robbed the same branch 10 years earlier and was only 10 days out of prison when he walked into the bank on Oct. 30, demanded money and faked like he had a gun in his pocket.

He grabbed some cash, climbed aboard a bicycle, pedaled to his getaway car then led police on a high-speed chase that resulted in a Tacoma police officer and a Pierce County sheriff’s deputy colliding at an intersection.

Knox finally surrendered outside Tacoma after ditching his car and trying to hide in some bushes along the Puyallup River.

It was the sixth bank he’s robbed, according to court records.

Knox, who pleaded guilty, summed up his actions that day in a letter to the court:

“I am writing to you to convey my sentiments in regard to the latest situation I find myself in yet again. The choices I made and the action I took was, is and will always be deplorable, wrong and unjustifiable.”

No argument from federal prosecutor Kurt Hermanns, who asked U.S. District Court Judge Benjamin Settle to declare Knox a career offender and to sentence him to 12 years, seven months.

“This was a significant crime involving threats of harm to bank employees and ended only after a high-speed chase placing both the police and public at risk,” Hermanns said.

Federal public defender Russell Leonard did not try to gloss over his client’s conduct although he did point out that Knox was under “plenty of financial strain” after his release from prison.

“What should have simply been a rocky start for Mr. Knox turned into a dangerous and hapless re-enactment of his earlier failures,” Leonard wrote in a sentencing memorandum in which he asked for a sentence two months short of 10 years.

Knox’s family sent letters to the court saying he is a good person but lapses into crime when desperate or on drugs.
“He has made poor choices, but I hope he has learned from them,” his sister, Melissa Roman, wrote to the court. “I know that it takes some people longer to learn to live differently.”

Judge Settle wasn’t moved, opting for a sentence even higher than Hermanns’ recommendation.

“The public needs to be protected from you,” the judge told Knox, according to a news release issued by the U.S. Attorney’s Office. “When you’re out of custody, you’re a danger.”

A Tacoma man pleaded guilty today in federal court for selling crack cocaine and being a felon in possession of firearms.

Investigators say Orlando Alexander, 40, sold crack in the area of 38th Street in March 2008. Tacoma Police searched the man's home, and found a Frestorm .380 pistol, a Taurus .45 and a Ruger .44 revolver in addition to small amounts of cocaine and Ecstacy. He was arrested at the time of the search, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office.

Alexander had prior drug and assault convictions in King County.

Sentencing is scheduled for September. He faces an agreed sentence of five and a half years.