CEDRIC ROMERO BOOKER, aka “Stone”, 24, of Tacoma, Washington was sentenced today in U.S. District Court in Tacoma to ten years in prison and five years of supervised release for Possession of Crack Cocaine with Intent to Distribute and Possession of a Firearm in Furtherance of a Drug Trafficking Offense. Judge Ronald B. Leighton imposed the sentence.

BOOKER was arrested on June 22, 2006 by members of the Pierce County Violent Crimes Task Force. Officers served a search warrant on BOOKER’s residence on East 65th Street in Tacoma. Large amounts of crack cocaine, cash and a .45 semi-automatic weapon were seized from his car and home. A witness at the home said he had been with BOOKER the day before while BOOKER made a sale of crack cocaine. In filings with the court BOOKER’s attorney stated that BOOKER had been a gang member, but had left the gang some years ago.

BOOKER was prosecuted as part of the Project Safe Neighborhoods program. Unveiled by President George W. Bush in May 2001, Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN), is a comprehensive and strategic approach to gun law enforcement. PSN is a nationwide commitment to reduce gun crime in America by networking both new and existing local programs that target gun crime and then providing them with the resources and tools they need to succeed. Implementation at the local level -- in this case, in Pierce County-- has fostered close partnerships between federal, state and local prosecutors and law enforcement.

The case was investigated by the Pierce County Violent Crimes Task Force made up of agents and officers from the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives, the Tacoma Police Department, the Lakewood Police Department, and the Washington State Department of Corrections. The case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Gregory A. Gruber. For additional information please contact Emily Langlie, Public Affairs Officer for the United States Attorney’s Office, at (206) 553-4110.

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