Spokane7
55°
January 19, 2012 in City
Spokane, federal authorities arrest dozens
A multi-agency effort led to the arrest of more than two dozen people throughout the region early this morning.
A long-term investigation led by the Spokane Violent Crimes Gang Task Force culminated in a massive sweep in which law enforcement seized more than eight pounds of methamphetamine, 40 firearms, a grenade, an estimated $150,000 in currency and valuables, and ten vehicles.
“We need to send a message that we will not tolerate this type of activity in our community,” said Spokane Valley Police Chief Rick Van Leuven.
More than a dozen federal indictments unsealed today charge “members and associates of various gangs and drug organizations” with numerous counts of distribution of methamphetamine and other drugs. Some were charged as felons in possession of firearms.
The operation targeting what authorities called organized criminal enterprises and gang activity across eastern Washington and northern Oregon was dubbed Operation Old School.
The defendants charged in the federal indictment are: Charles M. Bell, 63, of Spokane; Michael Bell, 40, of Spokane; Brandon B. Blanche, 25, of Nevada; Christopher Brotherton, 32, of Walla Walla; Johauna M. Byers, 28, of Spokane; Tyrone J. Carell, 24, of Spokane; William Childs, 40, of Kennewick; Donald Cummings, 55, of Kennewick; Ryan Doherty, 24, of Spokane; Christopher D. Drumgoole, 26, of Spokane; Keith Hall, 42, of Walla Walla; Joshua J. Kaczor, 32, of Spokane, Edgar Lizarraga-Felix, 28, of Pasco; David McLaughlin, 21, of Spokane; Paul L. Rios, 30, of Spokane; Amador Sanchez, 31, of Kennewick; Robert Michael Sevey, 55, of Spokane; Michael A. Shahinian, 45, of Spokane; Clayton D. Sibbett, 38, of Weston, Ore.; Teal Nicholas Terrell, 19, of Spokane; Edward L. Thomas, 26, of Spokane; Siaosilepelenise L. Tuaimalo, 30, of Spokane; Michael Wilson, 44, of Spokane Valley; Alice Woodburn, 49, of Spokane Valley.
“These are very bad people doing very bad things to our children and ultimately they are the ones hiring our children to do their dirty work and it’s our kids who are ending up in body bags,” Spokane County Sheriff Ozzie Knezovich said.
Authorities executed more than 25 federal search warrants in connection with the arrests, according to Assistant U.S. Attorney Thomas Rice.
Those indicted on drug distribution charges face up to 20 years in prison or more, while the firearm offenses carry a penalty of up to 10 years in prison.
“This has a direct impact on our quality of life and we must eliminate that threat to our quality of life,” Knezovich said.
Authorities are still looking for more people in connection with the operation, but have not released their identities.
The operation involved more than 100 federal, state and local authorities.
“It is pretty awe inspiring when you look at the level of coordination and cooperation taking place,” said Scott Stephens, SPD’s interim police chief.
Recent stories by Chelsea Bannach
Civil War re-enactment reverberates with camaraderie, cannons May 27, 2012 6- Nightmare rerun: Family’s second child diagnosed with cancer first child had just beaten May 25, 2012 7
- Torchlight Parade honors military, challenges youth May 20, 2012
- A new place for helping kids, families May 17, 2012
- Spokane seniors shine at Bring Your Talent competition May 16, 2012
Nugget on January 19 at 9:17 a.m.
Good job officers!!!
valleyman on January 19 at 10:17 a.m.
Getting the gang trash off our streets, one thug at a time…
liveinfearoftheSPD on January 19 at 11:07 a.m.
Odd that it always takes involvement of the Feds to get LE to do anything.
Good Job Feds!
BlondeSquawker on January 19 at 11:10 a.m.
They should haul KTK off as well.
misjustice on January 19 at 11:19 a.m.
WHAT?
The SPD was busted/disbanded?
Good News!
; )
brianrbreen on January 19 at 11:33 a.m.
I’m going to wait for Detective Tom Rice’s press conference before I comment.
JayNW on January 19 at 11:48 a.m.
you guys are obvioulsy uneducated in the process of law enforcement when it comes to federal charges vs state charges.
Many times the feds charge instead of state charges because they have minimum mandatory sentence ranges that far exceed what our state legislatures have set. Most times, they start as local investigations and once it is realized the large scale of a drug operation or that the felon w/ the gun has quite a criminal history and would get much more prison time via fed conviction, the case is then given to the feds.
We also have DEA/ATF and Marshalls here that work closely with our local LE’s. (specifically the gang task force) This has nothing to do with issues within SPD or the county prosecutors office. These types of case happen all over the state, all over the nation.
But, why am I not surprised that many of you would find any reason to bash our local LE’s, even when they are doing good 99.99% of the time. And doing a job you cowards wouldn’t have the guts to even attempt to do.
PS, Tim Rice is a US attorney, not a detective.
Ashree_Simon on January 19 at 11:55 a.m.
Good job SPD and thank you.
greenlibertarian on January 19 at 12:00 p.m.
Yea! Go cops! I hope they shot and killed a bunch of gang-bangers who don’t deserve a trial! Take our city back!
-copscandonowrong-tard
brianrbreen on January 19 at 12:10 p.m.
@JayNW
My mistake I thought he was the one that did the follow-up on those burglaries on the South Hill.
Like I said, it will be interesting to see who actually initiated the case, could have been a RICO case with input from all the folks. Looks like a good effort on everyone’s part no matter who initiated the case they should all get credit.
greenlibertarian on January 19 at 12:16 p.m.
When taxpayers have shelled out millions and millions of dollars in settlements because of rogue actions by numerous police officers acting in bad faith, that does not add up to cops “doing good 99.99%” of the time.
You might want to curtail the over-exuberance for cops doing the right thing, if you expect to be taken seriously.
Middleman on January 19 at 12:45 p.m.
And you greenlib, should have a more open mind and view each incident as it’s own instead of always painting with your wide brush if you want anyone to ponder your rants. The middle ground must seem like light years away from your current political position on the spectrum. Touche’
mikeln on January 19 at 12:51 p.m.
What would it take to end the need for this type of activity? We are all put in harms way when these officers take these guys down. End the war on drugs, treat it as the health problem it really is and the destruction of americans will end. It will also be much cheaper in the long run. Remember, these people lied to us to start this war against americans and have made many in the private sector quite wealthy.
The_Seer on January 19 at 1:03 p.m.
The prison-industrial complex rolls on and on, like a flood swollen river that can’t be contained. Rice, along with the Obama administration could build dams and dikes to stem the flow.
But they won’t and your taxpayer dollars will continue to feed the conditions that allow crime syndicates to grow, your streets to be less safe and drug use to increase.
Just say no: To the War on Drugs.
JayNW on January 19 at 1:45 p.m.
When there are nearly 150K calls for service and 290 cops (just for SPD); less than a dozen negative incidents spread out in the last 5-7 yrs, then yeah, I would say 99% of the time the cops are responding as they should, doing their job the right way.
Unfortunately, the media doesn’t report on the thousands upon thousands of good things our cops do.
I am in no way excusing the bad behavior of some, but I’m intelligent enough to know that doesn’t equate to every officer, and most definitely not every call or stop.
JayNW on January 19 at 1:46 p.m.
MikelN- this isn’t just the war on drugs, many of these gang members are felons, with access to guns and killing people. Its not about someone smoking a dime bag of weed.
Verbal on January 19 at 3:09 p.m.
They should have waited - the case wasn’t ready. Detectives McNulty and Freemont convinced Lt. Daniels, but Daniels couldn’t convince Acting Chief Burrell. Seems Burrell wanted to make a splash in the news cycle for the mayor in order to better his chances at becoming the permanent Chief.
greenlibertarian on January 19 at 4:56 p.m.
But, why am I not surprised that many of you would find any reason to bash our local LE’s, even when they are doing good 99.99% of the time. And doing a job you cowards wouldn’t have the guts to even attempt to do.
-JayNW
No one had bashed local LE’s when JayNW made his statement further clarifying that unless a person is willing to be a police officer, such person can NEVER criticize a LEO, and such persons are COWARDS in JayNW’s view.
Let’s use your numbers, JayNW.
:
150,000 incidents, handled properly 99.99%, that’s 15 IMproper.
Kinda doubt that figure.
Oh, but now JayNW, you change your number, and NOW say 99%.
JayNW on January 19 at 1:45 p.m.
When there are nearly 150K calls for service and 290 cops (just for SPD); less than a dozen negative incidents spread out in the last 5-7 yrs, then yeah, I would say 99% of the time the cops are responding as they should, doing their job the right way
150,000 incidents, handled properly 99%, that’s FIFTEEN HUNDRED (1,500) NOT HANDLED properly.
So which is it, Jay? Think no one will call you on it when you just throw random numbers around as if they are valid and authoritative?
Think again.
greenlibertarian on January 19 at 5:19 p.m.
And by the way, the Otto beat down, probably 15-20 things done wrong, counting all the officers involved.
lewis8457 on January 19 at 7:32 p.m.
why wait til today could have done it two days ago when it was dry out.
yes it seems it takes the feds to actually do the work that needs to be done.
thank you fed for getting more trouble makers off our streets.
Truthbtold on January 19 at 7:46 p.m.
A big thanks to all agencies involved. It sends a message, OUR community, OUR kids…..
Again thank you……Ozzie, Stephens along with all agencies……………
zelda on January 19 at 8:06 p.m.
On one hand it’s good to know that the gangs and dealers are being arrested but on the other hand it’s proof that the tenacles of the Zetas or Sinaloa cartels are probably operating here in a big way. I bet it’s the most robust part of the local economy. Unfortunately it’s tax-free and doesn’t exactly add to the attractiveness of the community or property values.
mkries2 on January 19 at 8:23 p.m.
Verbal - you are right. What they need is an Omar Little to rob the people involved in the game and then snitch on them to the police.
The_Seer on January 19 at 8:26 p.m.
jaynw: Should the press be out at the airport reporting all the successful landings of planes?
Should media cover each time a crosswalk guard guides one of our children safely through a busy intersection?
From the Oz Man: “These are very bad people doing very bad things to our children and ultimately they are the ones hiring our children to do their dirty work and it’s our kids who are ending up in body bags,” Spokane County Sheriff Ozzie Knezovich said.
What?
Really?
As citizens of this county, we’ve seen WAAAAAAAAAAYYYYYYY more law abiding adults end up in body bags than “our kids” in the senseless War on Drugs.
The children of the parents arrested here are victims. I’m sure they are lining up to thank Ozzie on their way to foster care.
crazyivan44 on January 19 at 8:34 p.m.
greenlib is going to put on his magic cape and save the day…
Thank you SPD for your hard work and all you do to keep the city safe despite all of the additional crap you have to deal with from a bloodthirsty public that does not understand your job and the conditions you work in but thinks they know best.
mrd on January 19 at 8:41 p.m.
Good job officers, get the drugs and those who sell them off the streets.
crazyivan44 on January 19 at 8:42 p.m.
Seer, I’m glad that your crystal ball allows you to know the truth of every violent encounter that has taken place between someone in Spokane and SPD. The children of the parents arrested here are indeed victims. Victims of parents that could care less about the well being of their children, and cared so little that they let themselves be locked up. Foster care is so much worse than strange people coming into their home to buy illicit drugs…not to mention all of the toxins they’ve ingested and inhaled while mommy and daddy cook meth in the back bedroom. But hey, the parents were forced to do this for money because they can’t do anything else and have no other options right?
Maybe you can put on a cape too and be green lib’s sidekick as you promote drugs and fight the injustice of “the man” keeping everyone down!
greenlibertarian on January 19 at 9:43 p.m.
Prohibition directly leads to smuggling, crime, violence, and public corruption.
http://www.leap.cc/
Shelala on January 19 at 9:57 p.m.
@JayNW
If you are gonna spout off, at least get it right. Federal charges were likely brought because you will note that the case(s) involved suspects from different states and other jurisdictions, not just Washington state, Spokane County or the City of Spokane. Most likely a sort of task force Federal offenses carry very specific sentencing guidelines They didn’t just decide to prosecute federally to ensure longer sentences, although they can decide to prosecute some offenses on a lower level. I don’t need a new specific reason to bash local cops, I still have all those old long term reasons.
nslopeofw on January 19 at 10:28 p.m.
Crazy-
Dude, mellow out. Green (and oddly, seer) are right to question the heavy handedness of the SPD. SPD has history.
I hope the good ones can either change the bad ones or get rid of them. Here, SPD did great, and I’m actually feeling quasi-good about the blue team. (Still think the Karl saluters should be fired)
That is a LOT of Meth off the streets.
You monitoring this Davida? Good job to you and the crew!
Shelala on January 19 at 11:01 p.m.
@nslope
Not so fast. You should read the latest threads on the old post.
From previous thread today:
I was just reading KXLY’s twitter regarding a police ride along this morning. One of the reporter’s tweets mentioned that a SPD officer was awarded a snickers bar for a high score in a recent training event during roll call. Call me overly suspicious, but it would be interesting what the recent training was about and if the choice of a snickers candy bar had any subtle inference to Zehm. Maybe be innocent,, maybe not.
arroyoribera on January 20 at 12:17 a.m.
Hold on! Not so fast!
I would advise everyone to hold off their congratulations to law enforcement.
Anyone remember fall 2007 when the SPD & area law enforcement were looking for some good PR after their particularly rough 2007 summer?
Well let me refresh your memories:
http://www.spokesmanreview.com/breakin/story.asp?ID=11922
Remember, these guys think they are PR (propaganda) masters. That is part of why Anne Kirkpartrick - with her cooked up southern accent - was hired as police chief.
http://spokanepoliceabuses.wordpress.com/2010/07/04/just-exactly-who-is-anne-kirkpatrick-annie-got-her-gun-now-tries-to-get-out-of-town/
And of course PR is why the SPD likes to get itself on the COPS program as often as it can, admitting as SPD Spokeswoman Jennifer DeRuwe did in 2007 that they can make sure they get positive PR spin and control the content. http://spokanepoliceabuses.wordpress.com/2007/08/18/spokane-cops-to-spin-their-own-story-on-cops-tv/
And don’t forget, of course, that there is that old problem of Lies, Damn Lies, and Statistic, as SPD Corporal Lee well knows.
http://spokanepoliceabuses.wordpress.com/2007/09/24/lies-damn-lies-andspd-cpl-lee-and-statistics-differ-on-crime-rate/
And finally, there is still that question about “Who are the gangs?” The SPD is in the mind of many a gang in blue. That is what we have been discussing for the last decade. An out of control, armed killing squad called the Spokane Police Department. Tough to dispute that given that federal drug task force member and SPD officer Jason Uberagua (sorry, former SPD officer) was caught in malfeasance and is no longer with the force. http://spokanepoliceabuses.wordpress.com/2008/01/27/spd-officer-jason-uberuaga-fired-for-conduct-unbecoming/
And then there is Jay Olsen, http://spokanepoliceabuses.wordpress.com/2007/10/30/spd-slumlord-jay-olsens-drug-house/, who shot Shonto Pete in the head but who prior to that owned a known drug house.
brianrbreen on January 20 at 6:36 a.m.
I think it is important to understand just what this case involved. The case was put together by a federally funded JOINT task force consisting of officers from various law enforcement agencies and led by the FBI. The US Attorneys Office provides the legal expertise and direction for the task force. The SPD and the SCSO contribute one or two officers to the task force who are under the direction of the FBI while assigned to the task force. When it comes to the execution of search and arrest warrants in a large complex case like this the task force relies on the assistance of the local jurisdictions like the SPD and the SCSO.
In essence everyone involved in the operation deserves credit. The officers from the SPD and the SCSO assigned to the task force deserve credit for the role they played in putting the case together just as much as the federal agents do. Whatever assistance was provided by the SPD and SCSO during execution of the search and arrest warrants also deserves credit. Did anyone notice that the execution of all those warrants went off without a hitch? NOONE was apparently hurt or injured despite the high risk of violence.
The leadership and control of a task force such as this belongs at the federal level where the laws are far more conducive to success including federal wiretap laws that in most cases play a key role in building cases against organized crime. Not all federal task forces are successful; some are rife with turf wars, mistrust, and a lack of total cooperation. This task force has every appearance of being one of the good ones and the community should be thankful for that.
The case isn’t over and there is a lot of work to do, most of that work will be the responsibility of the feds. The locals assigned to the task force will gain a lot of important experience to take back to the job with them when they leave. This is a win; win for all of us, no matter what ones view of local law enforcement problems is.
There has never been a successful federal task force operation in the history of the US that hasn’t allowed “The Locals” to get a piece of the press. It’s the name of the game; it’s the way it works. In this case it was deserved can’t we please at least recognize that.
brianrbreen on January 20 at 6:57 a.m.
@David Brookbank
Please notice that Mr. Rice’s press release, unlike the one you refer to, includes only the names of individuals that were actually indicted by a federal grand jury, and notes there are others yet to be apprehended. I would also guess that there are some un-indicted co-conspirators. The real numbers, or the magnitude of the case won’t be known for some time.