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Press Release

Tacoma man sentenced to 5+ years in prison for persistent fentanyl trafficking while illegally possessing firearms

For Immediate Release
U.S. Attorney's Office, Western District of Washington
Drug sales contributed to Tacoma motel becoming a drug trafficking hotspot

Tacoma – A Tacoma man was sentenced today in U.S. District Court in Tacoma to 66 months in prison and three years of supervised release for dealing fentanyl while armed with a handgun, announced Acting U.S. Attorney Tessa M. Gorman. Peter Darnell King, 24 was arrested in September 2022, following a joint operation between the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF) and the Tacoma Police Department (TPD). At today’s sentencing hearing, Chief U.S. District Judge David G. Estudillo said, “Controlled substances, including fentanyl, as in this case, have had a huge impact on the community. Quite literally, they are killing people.”

“Peter King contributed to the addiction and violence plaguing the most dangerous street in Tacoma by regularly dealing fentanyl out of his hotel room on Hosmer Street,” said Acting U.S. Attorney Gorman. “He was arrested three times within 11 days, each time with fentanyl and a gun, and each time he immediately returned to trafficking a deadly drug when he was released from custody.”

According to records filed in the case, in May 2022, law enforcement learned of King’s drug dealing activity and began an investigation. ATF conducted undercover buys of fentanyl pills from King at his apparent residence, the Econo Lodge motel on South Hosmer Street. In July 2022, King was arrested by Tacoma Police officers who encountered him in the parking lot of a Home Depot store. He had nearly 1,000 fentanyl pills and a firearm was observed in his vehicle. The following day, after his release from custody, Lakewood Police contacted King at a gas station near the Tacoma Mall because his car appeared to have no license plates. King became agitated and was taken into custody – he had over 100 fentanyl pills and a firearm in his pockets.

The third arrest last summer was August 6, 2022, when King was found asleep in his car while a young toddler played unrestrained in the front passenger seat. King had a loaded firearm in his lap and 182 fentanyl pills in a coin purse at his waist.

ATF conducted a series of undercover operations at the Econo Lodge in mid-August, during which King was seen numerous times engaging in drug trafficking behavior. The final arrest was on September 7 in a joint operation by ATF and the Tacoma Police Department. Officers executed a search warrant at the Econo Lodge, during which they seized three firearms, body armor, ammunition, and fentanyl.

King pleaded guilty in April 2023 to Possession of Controlled Substances with Intent to Distribute and Possession of a Firearm in Furtherance of a Drug Trafficking Offense.

In asking for a nine-year prison sentence Assistant United States Attorney Kristine Foerster wrote to the court, “Firearm possession, particularly in connection with drug trafficking, puts the community at significant risk. Every time King was stopped by police and found with distribution levels of fentanyl in the summer of 2022, he also had a gun. When Tacoma Police took one firearm, he had a new one days later. And King did not just keep a firearm at his hotel room, he carried guns with him and his drug stash as he moved throughout the community. He also kept both fentanyl and firearms in reach of his small child, as seen in August and September of 2022. A substantial prison sentence is necessary to not only punish King but to protect the public.”

The case was investigated by ATF and the Tacoma Police Department.

The case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Kristine Foerster.

Contact

Press contact for the U.S. Attorney’s Office is Communications Director Emily Langlie at (206) 553-4110 or Emily.Langlie@usdoj.gov.

Updated July 26, 2023

Topics
Drug Trafficking
Firearms Offenses