TACOMA MAN PLEADS GUILTY TO GUN AND DRUG CHARGES
Repeat Offender Arrested for Selling Crack Cocaine
ORLANDO ALEXANDER, 40, of Tacoma Washington, pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court in Tacoma today to being a Felon in Possession of Firearms and three counts of Distribution of Crack Cocaine. Sentencing will occur before U.S. District Judge Benjamin Settle on September 14, 2009 at 9:00 AM. ALEXANDER faces an agreed sentence of 68 months along with other terms and conditions.
Court papers indicate ALEXANDER committed a series of crack cocaine sales in the vicinity of 38th Street in West Tacoma in March of 2008. Based upon those transactions the Tacoma Police Department, Special Investigations Division, obtained a search warrant for the defendant’s home. That search produced additional drugs and a variety of firearms. ALEXANDER and others were arrested at the time of the search and charged in Pierce County Superior Court. Although the others remained at Pierce County, ALEXANDER’s case was transferred to the United States Attorney’s Office through a cooperative program intended to identify repeat and dangerous offenders. ALEXANDER was indicted by a federal grand jury and today entered guilty pleas to various of the charged offenses. The three drug counts arose from his sales of crack cocaine in amounts between one and three grams at a time. The felon in possession charge arose from the search warrant where a Firestorm .380 pistol, a Taurus .45 pistol, and Ruger .44 revolver were located in his bedroom along with small quantities of cocaine and Ecstasy. Alexander has prior convictions in King County for Assault and drug offenses, and thus was prohibited from possessing a firearm.
This case was investigated by the Tacoma Police Department, Special Investigations Division, and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms & Explosives (ATF) and the FBI.
The case is being prosecuted by Special Assistant United States Attorney Diane Clarkson and Assistant United States Attorneys Kelly Harris and Kurt Hermanns. Ms. Clarkson is a Deputy Pierce County Prosecutor specially designated to prosecute drug and gun cases in federal court.
For additional information please contact Emily Langlie, Public Affairs Officer for the United States Attorney’s Office, at (206) 553-4110 or Emily.Langlie@USDOJ.Gov.
