Drug ring enforcer gets 13 years

A bill collector and enforcer for drug distributors will serve 13 years in federal prison for involvement in the biggest methamphetamine ring ever busted in Spokane. Jack Thomas Lamere admitted participating in last year’s abduction-torture of a 25-year-old Spokane man who owed the drug ring $370. The man was stripped of his clothes, restrained with a neck collar, spray-painted and beaten with boards. His captors also burned his testicles with a candle. The following day, the victim gave his 1985 Buick to the drug traffickers to satisfy his debt. Lamere, 29, became an enforcer for the meth ring to pay off his drug debts, which he said never seemed to go away. “I’m embarrassed I’m here today,” Lamere told U.S. District Judge Robert Whaley on Tuesday. “I made some of the decisions because of my addiction,” Lamere said. “I accept responsibility for everything I’ve been a part of.” The judge sentenced Lamere to 155 months in prison. After that, he must complete five years of supervised release. In a separate proceeding Tuesday, Lamere’s wife, Shannon Green, 25, of Spokane, was sentenced to 41 months in prison for her role in the drug ring. She had nothing to say to the judge before sentencing. Green will get a year off her sentence if she successfully completes a drug-treatment program in prison. She also must complete five years of parole supervision, including random drug tests, after she’s released. Green, a mother of two small children, pleaded guilty to conspiracy and possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine. Others involved in the drug ring, including Richard “Butch” Forrest II, 38; Cheryl M. Rogers, 25; and Monica F. Forrest, 36, face sentencing on Thursday and Friday. Lamere earlier pleaded guilty to conspiracy, three counts of distributing methamphetamine and two counts of possessing the drug. He confessed to more counts than prosecutors requested as part of a plea agreement. “This is a man of unusual integrity,” defense attorney Ed Carroll said. Lamere faced a substantially longer prison sentence, but federal prosecutors agreed to the lighter term. Lamere didn’t formally become a government informant, which would have earned him an even lighter sentence. But Lamere agreed to testify earlier this month at a lengthy sentencing hearing. Assistant U.S. Attorney Earl Hicks, surprised by Lamere’s testimony, said the drug dealer “apparently just got fed up with having his life threatened” by others tied to the drug ring. Lamere provided damaging testimony against his co-defendants, who have ties to outlaw motorcycle gangs, including the Hells Angels, Gypsy Jokers and Iron Horsemen. Because of that testimony and other statements he made to police, Lamere has received numerous death threats, his attorney told the judge. Whaley said Lamere recklessly broke society’s laws by getting involved in violence and extensive drug dealing. But the judge noted that Lamere also provided valuable information about the drug ring’s activities, “hanging yourself at the same time.” Whaley said Lamere displayed an “extraordinary acceptance of responsibility” and benefited only by clearing his conscience. “You helped send the message to others that it’s not always in their best interests to maintain a wall of silence,” Whaley told Lamere.