RENTON MAN SENTENCED TO 8 YEARS IN PRISON FOR DRUG AND GUN CRIMES
Man with Lengthy Criminal History Kept Guns and Drugs Within Reach of Young Children
JOSE MARIO NASH, 23, of Renton, Washington, was sentenced today in U.S. District Court in Seattle to eight years in prison and five years of supervised release for Possession of Crack Cocaine with Intent to Distribute and for Being a Felon in Possession of a Firearm. At sentencing Chief U.S. District Court Judge Robert S. Lasnik ordered NASH to undergo both mental health and drug treatment.
NASH was arrested on May 1, 2007, following the search of his Renton apartment. The original focus of the search was NASH’s girlfriend, Natasha Young. Young was sentenced earlier this month to 39 months in prison for Bank Fraud and Aggravated Identity Theft. When authorities arrived to search the apartment, NASH jumped from a back window and ran wearing only his underwear. In the apartment officers found a virtual arsenal, including a military assault weapon, sawed off rifle, five handguns and body armor. They also found crack cocaine and paraphernalia used to sell the drug. The guns and drugs were within easy reach of Young’s two small children.
NASH was captured outside the apartment when he tried to flee.
NASH has a lengthy criminal history, with 47 arrests and 23 convictions for crimes such as theft, forgery and drug possession. As a felon he is prohibited from possessing any firearms.
In asking the court for the lengthy sentence, prosecutors acknowledge that NASH had a terrible upbringing in a family ripped apart by cocaine addiction. As Assistant United States Attorney Vince Lombardi noted in his sentencing memo, “Both (NASH’s) mother and his grandmother used crack, and neglected Mr. Nash as a direct result of their drug use and addiction. Put another way, the defendant is the poster child of the terrible impact crack cocaine can have on families and communities. Now 23 years old, Mr. Nash made a conscious choice to sell that same substance.”
The case was investigated by the Social Security Administration Office of Inspector General (SSA-OIG), the Seattle Police Department, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms & Explosives (ATF) and the U.S. Marshals Pacific Northwest Fugitive Apprehension Task Force.
The case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Vince Lombardi.
For additional information please contact Emily Langlie, Public Affairs Officer for the United States Attorney’s Office, at (206) 553-4110.
