Repeat offender convicted at trial of drug trafficking and firearms offenses

Seattle – A Seattle man with prior convictions for robbery, burglary and indecent liberties with forcible compulsion for sexually assaulting a homeowner during the course of a residential burglary, was convicted late yesterday in U.S. District Court in Seattle of possession of fentanyl with intent to distribute and possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime, announced Acting U.S. Attorney Teal Luthy Miller. Anthony Raymond Dodd, 36, was convicted following a three-day jury trial. The jury deliberated about 6 hours before returning the guilty verdict. At a second proceeding, the jury convicted Dodd of being a felon in possession of a firearm. U.S. District Judge John H. Chun scheduled sentencing for October 20, 2025.

According to records filed in the case and testimony at trial, on February 22, 2024, Dodd was scheduled to meet with his community corrections officer in the SODO neighborhood of Seattle. Law enforcement had received a report that Dodd was armed and dealing fentanyl pills. Corrections officers followed Dodd in a car he was driving to the check-in meeting. The car was kept under surveillance while Dodd met with his corrections officer and failed to truthfully an

swer some questions about guns and drugs. When corrections officers searched the vehicle Dodd was driving, they found two bags of fentanyl pills in the center console, with a loaded handgun sitting on top of the pills. DNA consistent with Dodd’s DNA profile was found on the trigger of the gun and the magazine holding the bullets. When law enforcement searched Dodd’s apartment, they found $1,460 in cash and a few pills hidden in a heat vent. On Dodd’s phone was a request from someone asking for ‘blues’ – the street name for fentanyl pills.

In closing arguments Assistant United States Attorney Cecelia Gregson told the jury, Dodd “was the only person in that car, he was the last person in that car.”

Dodd’s defense tried to argue that the case was a ‘cautionary tale’ about borrowing the wrong car from a friend – a car Dodd claimed he did not know contained drugs and a loaded gun.  Prosecutors say the case is something different, “This is a ‘cautionary tale’ about a defendant thinking he could commit crimes on the way to and from his Department of Corrections appointment.”

To limit what the jury knew of Dodd’s criminal history, Judge Chun held a second trial on whether Dodd illegally possessed the firearm since he is a convicted felon. Jurors briefly deliberated before returning that guilty verdict.

Possession of fentanyl with intent to distribute is punishable by a mandatory minimum 5 years imprisonment and a maximum penalty of 40 years. Possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime is punishable by a mandatory minimum 5 years in prison to run consecutive to any sentence imposed on the drug trafficking count. Unlawful Possession of a firearm is punishable by up to 15 years in prison.

The case was investigated by the Washington State Department of Corrections, the Seattle Police Department, and the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA).

The case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Cecelia Gregson and Rachel Yemini.