Man with multiple arrests in Washington and Idaho sentenced to ten years in prison for drug trafficking while armed with a firearm

Seattle – A 59-year-old man with arrests in three Western Washington counties and Idaho was sentenced this week in U.S. District Court in Seattle to ten years in prison, announced U.S. Attorney Nick Brown. Kermit Kellin Faglier pleaded guilty in October 2022 to one count of possession of a controlled substance with intent to deliver, one count of possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime, and one count of access device fraud offense. U.S. District Judge John C. Coughenour imposed the sentence.

According to records filed in the case, Faglier was originally charged in the District of Idaho for a January 10, 2020, attempt to use a counterfeit credit card to purchase merchandise at a sporting goods store. The criminal charges from Idaho were later transferred to Washington as part of a global resolution of the case.

Faglier was arrested in Western Washington three times between January and May 2021. The first was January 23, 2021, in the town of Snoqualmie, where he was stopped driving a stolen vehicle. In the car, law enforcement found a stolen Smith and Wesson .38 revolver, a Glock semi-automatic pistol, methamphetamine, heroin, multiple driver’s licenses belonging to others, forged Washington driver’s licenses with Faglier’s picture but different names, multiple check cards, checks belonging to other people, and more than $2300 in cash.

Barely a week later, Faglier was arrested a second time in Mukilteo for attempting a fraudulent cash withdrawal from a bank. The February 1, 2021, arrest resulted in the seizure of counterfeit currency, checks, credit and debit cards, and multiple IDs from various states. Two guns were seized from the vehicle Faglier had been riding in – a 9 mm pistol and a 40 mm pistol. The van also contained heroin and meth.

On May 4, 2021, Faglier was contacted by officers in Spanaway, Washington because he had used a stolen identity to purchase a Ford F-150 truck. During the search incident, his arrest officers found methamphetamine in his pocket and a stolen Glock 43 semi-automatic handgun was in the center console of the truck.

The case was investigated by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives, the Snoqualmie Police Department, the Mukilteo Police Department, the Pierce County Sheriff’s Office, and the United States Secret Service.

The case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Cecelia Gregson.

This case is part of Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN), a program bringing together all levels of law enforcement and the communities they serve to reduce violent crime and gun violence, and to make our neighborhoods safer for everyone. On May 26, 2021, the Department launched a violent crime reduction strategy strengthening PSN based on these core principles: fostering trust and legitimacy in our communities, supporting community-based organizations that help prevent violence from occurring in the first place, setting focused and strategic enforcement priorities, and measuring the results.