ANTHONY W. REISBECK, 43, of Silver Lake, Washington, was sentenced today in U.S. District Court in Tacoma to 160 months in prison and five years of supervised release for conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine. REISBECK was the leader of a meth distribution ring in the Longview/Kelso area of Southwest Washington, distributing pounds of methamphetamine each week. In May 2009, REISBECK sold methamphetamine to a person working with law enforcement. REISBECK was arrested February 10, 2010. Law enforcement officers searched his car and discovered 338 grams of methamphetamine, marijuana and $6,100 in currency. Following his arrest, REISBECK continued to try to run the drug ring, making calls from jail. The calls were monitored and recorded by law enforcement. REISBECK instructed his cohorts to collect drug debts and deal additional quantities of meth. He required the underlings to pay him a percentage on all drug sales. U.S. District Judge Robert J. Bryan imposed the sentence.

According to records in the case, REISBECK was trafficking pound quantities of methamphetamine per day through a variety of sub-dealers operating in the area of Kelso, Washington. Two of those sub-dealers, Michael Waddington and Randy Chalupa, were each sentenced earlier this month to ten years in prison. In addition to REISBECK’s sale to someone working with law enforcement, other sources described the drug dealing they witnessed between REISBECK and Waddington and Chalupa. The last co-conspirator charged federally, Erica Lewis, will be sentenced next month.

In his sentencing memo, Assistant United States Attorney Jeffrey Backhus described how REISBECK “controlled access to the methamphetamine source-of supply, recruited and managed street-level methamphetamine dealers, ordered co-conspirators to collect drug-debts on his behalf, and demanded that his dealers pay him a “tax” on methamphetamine they sold. Through reputation, intimidation and sheer force of will, Reisbeck was even able to control his organization while in custody. The evidence clearly establishes that Reisbeck was at the center of the drug trafficking organization and directed a small army of drug dealers as they flooded the streets of Southwestern Washington with methamphetamine.”

The case was investigated by The Cowlitz-Wahkiakum Narcotics Task Force and the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA). The case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Jeffrey Backhus.

 

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