DANIEL SILVA-CHAVEZ, 35, of Seattle, Washington, was sentenced today in U.S. District Court in Seattle to ten years in prison and five years of supervised release. SILVA-CHAVEZ pleaded guilty on November 15, 2006, to Conspiracy to Distribute Cocaine, Methamphetamine and Heroin. As a Mexican National, SILVA-CHAVEZ will likely be deported following his prison term. At sentencing Chief U.S. District Judge Robert S. Lasnik told him, “so many families’ lives have been ruined by your drug dealing.”

SILVA-CHAVEZ was one of 36 defendants charged in Federal Court in connection with “Operation Dry Ice.” The two year wiretap investigation dismantled a drug dealing organization that imported drugs from Mexico and distributed them in Seattle, Tacoma and Yakima. During the investigation the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) and the Seattle Police Department seized multiple pound quantities of cocaine, methamphetamine and heroin. When members of the drug ring were arrested in the early morning hours of June 8, 2006, agents seized more than four pounds of heroin, six kilos of cocaine, two pounds of meth, eight guns and $300,000 in cash.

SILVA-CHAVEZ, as the leader of the drug conspiracy, was sentenced to the longest prison term. Co-conspirator Pedro Cuellar-Garcia, was also sentenced to ten years in prison, and Alejandro Mesinas-Torres was sentenced to nine years in prison. The “Dry Ice” investigation also led to the investigation of three other drug rings, resulting in charges against nineteen additional defendants.

This was an Organized Crime and Drug Enforcement Task Force (OCDETF) investigation, providing supplemental federal funding to the federal and state agencies involved. The cases were investigated by DEA and the Seattle Police Department.

The case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Todd Greenberg and Lisca Borichewski.

For additional information please contact Emily Langlie, Public Affairs Officer for the United States Attorney’s Office, at (206) 553-4110.

Return to Top