Final Defendant in Drug Trafficking Conspiracy Sentenced to Prison

          The final member of a drug distribution conspiracy was sentenced today in U.S. District Court in Tacoma to four years in prison, announced U.S. Attorney Annette L. Hayes. ALEX BREMMER ABELSON, 26, of Tacoma, was arrested in a home containing significant amounts of heroin and methamphetamine, as well as 11 firearms. ABELSON has a prior felony conviction that precludes him from possessing firearms, and was on Washington Department of Corrections supervision at the time of his arrest. At the sentencing hearing, U.S. District Judge Ronald B. Leighton focused on “the rapidity with which the defendant goes from event to event, crime scene to crime scene, without catching his breath … he’s a persistent criminal.”

          According to records filed in the case, ABELSON is the sixth and final defendant sentenced in this matter. The conspirators distributed heroin and methamphetamine throughout King and Pierce Counties. In 2014, local law enforcement began investigating the drug trafficking activities of Michael Duane Humburgs. The Drug Enforcement Administration joined the investigation in early 2016, as investigators learned that the organization was increasing the quantities of drugs it was spreading in the community.

          When law enforcement executed search warrants on the case on April 29, 2016, they seized large amounts of heroin, methamphetamine, fentanyl, Viagra, anabolic steroids, cocaine, oxycodone, and ecstasy. The search warrants resulted in the seizure of $137,000 in cash and 15 firearms.

          Earlier this month, Humburgs, a 42-year-old resident of Federal Way and leader of the conspiracy, was sentenced to six years in prison for being a felon in possession of a firearm. The other members of the drug trafficking organization were sentenced for drug-related offenses. Jim Marks, a 46-year-old resident of Kent, was sentenced to five years in prison; Diallo Redd, a 45-year-old resident of Tacoma, was sentenced to four years in prison; Rafael Lugo, a 42-year-old resident of Tacoma, was sentenced to three years in prison; and Charles Traylor, a 45-year-old resident of Seattle, was sentenced to two years in prison.

          The case was investigated by the Drug Enforcement Administration, the King County Sheriff’s Office, and the Federal Way Police Department. The case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Marci Ellsworth and Nicholas Manheim.