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Spokane, Washington  Est. May 19, 1883

Sirens & Gavels

Pasco man w/ 32 lbs. of meth gets 17 years

A man arrested as he drove away from his Pasco home with nearly 32 pounds of methamphetamine that was to be partly distributed in Spokane recently was sentenced to 17 years in prison.

Mexican national Jesus Guillermo Bueno-Martinez, 34, will be deported after he serves 210 months in federal prison under a sentence imposed last week.

He pleaded guilty in January to possession with intent to distribute more than 500 grams of meth after being arrested on Oct. 2, 2009 as part of a sweeping drug bust that targeted meth distribution in Eastern Washington.

Along with the meth, Bueno-Martinez had $190,000 in cash, which has been seized by the U.S. A local partner in the business, Daniel A. Flaherty of Spokane Valley, was sentenced in to 23 years in prison last October. Federal agents found more than four pounds of meth in Flaherty's storage unit in Spokane Valley during a series of raids at more than a dozen sites in the Tri-Cities and Spokane.

The family-based drug trafficking organization operated out of the Tri-Cities and led investigators to more than 40 pounds of meth and $700,000.

The ring was connected to a family from the Quilar Village area of Culiacan, Sinaloa, Mexcio and has been distributing meth and cocaine in Spokane since the late 1990s, according to the U.S. attorney's office. Known as the Zazueta-Bueno/Vaal-Lopez organization, it also distributed drugs in North Idaho, Portland, Montana, Nebraska, Kansas and Colorado.

The drug dealing spanned three generations of family, many of whom were in the United States illegally.

"They have utilized multiple false identities and fraudulent social security numbers in attempts to conceal and further their illegal operations," according to the U.S. Attorney's Office. "The organization regularly put illegal aliens to work as drug couriers and threatened them and their families with harm if they cooperate with law enforcement when they were arrested."

Of the 46 people charged, 14 are believed to have fled to Mexico. Six people still are awaiting sentencing.

For a list of everyone who's been sentenced, click the link below.

  • Daniel A. Flaherty, age 36, 276 months for conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine,
  • Jesus Guillermo Bueno-Martinez, age 34, 210 months for possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine,
  • Nicholas Joseph Kloepfel, age 27, 204 months for possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine,
  • Toby Lee Olsen, Jr., age 40, 180 months for conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine,
  • Jeffrey Francis Matlock, age 36, 180 months for conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine,
  • Donavan James Stark, age 37, 168 months for conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine,
  • Kasey Case (Willard), age 36, 168 months for conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine,
  • Richard Reser, age 43, 168 months for conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine,
  • Todd Andrew Harpole, age 39, 160 months for conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine,
  • Donna Marie Constantineau, age 45, 135 months for conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine,
  • Sonny Joe Wiggins, age 35, 120 months for conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine,
  • Thomas Charles Collum Sr., age 49, 120 months for conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine,
  • Trinidad Fernando Ramos-Garcia, age 28, 120 months for possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine,
  • Warner William Slater, age 45, 120 months for conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine,
  • Alejandro Vizcarra-Milan, age 24, 108 months for possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine,
  • Taryn Coleman, age 26, 108 months for conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine,
  • Charles McGee, age 46, 87 months for conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine,
  • Mike Eugene Mulroy, age 51, 70 months for conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine,
  • Jason Michael Murry, age 32, 21 months for distribution of methamphetamine,
  • Olga Marie Sandoval-Zazueta, age 22, 13 months for misprision of felony,
  • Modesta Rivas-Pena, age 45, 9 months for false Social Security number,
  • Ana Maria Zazueta-Bueno, age 44, 9 months for false Social Security number,
  • Jesus Rogelia Bueno-Fuentes, age 60, 9 months for false Social Security number,
  • Sha’lisha Lee Brough, age 22, 191 days for misprision of felony,
  • Juan Ruiz Lechuga, age 47, 6 months for misprision of felony,
  • and Rodney Dietrich, age 34, probation for misprision of felony.


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