Final ‘in-custody’ defendant in Whatcom County drug trafficking ring sentenced to 8 years in prison

Seattle – A 35-year-old Seattle man was sentenced today in U.S. District Court in Seattle to eight years in prison for drug distribution and firearm crimes, announced Acting U.S. Attorney Teal Luthy Miller. Mohamed Abdirisak Mohamed pleaded guilty in January 2024. Mohamed was indicted in April 2023 after being caught on two separate occasions with thousands of fentanyl pills and a firearm. He was sentenced for two counts of possession of fentanyl with intent to distribute, two counts of unlawful possession of firearms, and possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime. At today’s sentencing hearing U.S. District Judge Richard A. Jones said, “You were involved in the dangerous combination of drugs and guns…. Those same drugs that you were dealing you had no idea where they would wind up… You put yourself in danger, your children in danger and their mother in danger.”

“This defendant ‘s encounters with law enforcement bookend this investigation – he was caught with thousands of potentially deadly pills and firearms in November 2022 and again in April 2023, said Acting U.S. Attorney Miller. “Fentanyl has taken a deadly toll in Whatcom County, just as it has throughout our country. Stopping such drug trafficking is a key priority of the Department of Justice.”

According to records filed in the case, Mohamed was one of six people charged federally in a months-long investigation of fentanyl dealing in Whatcom County. The ring was actively moving fentanyl from the Seattle area to redistributors in Bellingham. Law enforcement officers observed various drug transactions and interdicted the drug loads. On December 30, 2022, Lummi Police were called to a mini mart where a fentanyl distributor and a companion were revived and hospitalized following a fentanyl overdose.

In asking Judge Jones to impose the ten-year-sentence, Assistant United States Attorney Stephen Hobbs wrote to the court, “Mohamed was involved in an ongoing conspiracy to distribute fentanyl in Whatcom County. Many of these drugs ended up being distributed… on the Lummi Indian reservation, a community hard hit by the fentanyl pandemic. The Court is certainly aware of the danger that fentanyl poses to those who use it. Ultimately, Mohamed – for whatever reason –was willing to personally profit from the distribution of an addictive and often deadly controlled substance.”

Other members of the drug ring have been sentenced: 40-year-old Daniel Faix of Bellingham as sentenced to ten years in prison; 34-year-old Ahbdurman Ahmed of Seattle was sentenced in January 2024 to six years in prison. In July 2024 Natasha Parkhill, 38, of Bellingham, was sentenced to four years in prison.  Defendant Matthew Anderson, 36, of Bellingham, was sentenced last October to three years in prison. Defendant Robel Sisay Gebremedhin, A/K/A Robel Sisay Gebremedhin, 42, of Burien, WA is being sought by law enforcement.

This case is part of an Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETF) operation. OCDETF identifies, disrupts, and dismantles the highest-level criminal organizations that threaten the United States using a prosecutor-led, intelligence-driven, multi-agency approach. Additional information about the OCDETF Program can be found at https://www.justice.gov/OCDETF .

This investigation was led by the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) and the Whatcom County Drug and Gang Task Force, with valuable assistance provided by the Whatcom County Sheriff’s Office, Washington State Patrol, and the Whatcom County Prosecutor’s Office.

The case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Stephen Hobbs.