DARWIN MAURICE CALDWELL, 30, of Everett, Washington, was sentenced today in U.S. District Court in Seattle to 137 months in prison and 5 years of supervised release for Possession of Crack Cocaine with Intent to Distribute and being a Felon in Possession of Ammunition. At his sentencing hearing U.S. District Judge Richard Jones noted that CALDWELL had dealt drugs with his infant son sleeping in the back seat of the car. “That conduct exposed his child to all the dangers of drug dealing,” Judge Jones said.

According to records filed in the case, on two occasions in June 2008, CALDWELL sold crack cocaine to a confidential informant working with the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms & Explosives (ATF). During the first transaction, agents observed CALDWELL’s infant child asleep in the back of the car. At the second drug deal, CALDWELL displayed two different guns to the confidential source. Following the drug sales, officers served a search warrant on CALDWELL’s home and recovered $4,100 in cash, and clips of ammunition. As a felon, CALDWELL was prohibited from possessing any firearm or ammunition. One of CALDWELL’s girlfriends told police he had given her crack cocaine and a semi-automatic firearm to keep for him, because he suspected police surveillance.

CALDWELL has five prior felony convictions including assault and drug convictions. His longest term of incarceration on those charges was 18 months. In asking for a lengthy term, Assistant United States Attorney Vince Lombardi noted that it might deter others, as well as CALDWELL. In his sentencing memo Lombardi wrote, “there is a pressing need to deter others in the community who may be tempted to sell drugs and arm themselves despite prior felony convictions. As widely reported in the local media, there has been a rash of gang-related drive-by shootings and homicides in the Seattle metropolitan area in the past year or so. Many of these shootings involve gang members who are also trafficking in crack cocaine and other controlled substances. Imposing a significant sentence on Mr. Caldwell (and others similarly situated) may serve to deter others from engaging in similar conduct.”

The case was investigated by the ATF Violent Gang Task Force, the Everett Police Department, and was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Vince Lombardi as part of Project Safe Neighborhood (PSN). Unveiled by President George W. Bush in May 2001, Project Safe Neighborhood (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 Snohomish County -- has fostered close partnerships between federal, state and local prosecutors and law enforcement.

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

Return to Top