Date: November 15, 2022 Contact: newsroom@ci.irs.gov Seattle — A Bremerton, Washington man was sentenced today in U.S. District Court in Seattle to 9 years in prison for conspiracy to distribute controlled substances, announced U.S. Attorney Nick Brown. At the sentencing hearing U.S. District Judge John C. Coughenour noted that it was Wood's third federal conviction, and that he did poorly while on supervised release. "He has the most revocations (of supervised release) that I have seen in 40 years on the bench," Judge Coughenour said. "Mr. Wood has racked up state and federal convictions for drug dealing, partnering with some of the most violent drug cartel members our district has seen," said U.S. Attorney Brown. "He was distributing multiple pounds of methamphetamine. The damage his extensive drug dealing has done to the community cannot be overstated." In this most recent conviction, Wood was distributing methamphetamine for a leader of a drug operation tied to Mexico's Jalisco New Generation Cartel (CJNG). An extensive wire-tape investigation resulted in the indictment of 19 defendants in July 2020. When authorities went to arrest Wood at the half-way house where he had been residing, he fled and avoided arrest for nearly a year. He was taken into custody on June 10, 2021, after once again attempting to run from police. Wood pleaded guilty on July 27, 2022. In asking for a significant sentence, prosecutors described Wood's lengthy criminal history. He was first convicted of possession of methamphetamine in 2001. He also possessed a firearm. In 2003 he was first convicted federally for distributing methamphetamine for a large drug trafficking organization. In 2011 he was convicted of drug trafficking in Kitsap County. While on supervision for the 2011 drug case, he was charged federally in 2015, again for distributing meth for a large drug organization. Wood was released in 2018, and while on supervision for both the 2011 state case and 2015 federal case, he committed the drug distribution crimes for which he was sentenced today. "Wood's history demonstrates that he has spent the vast majority of his life engaged in drug trafficking. On his third federal conviction, he has not been deterred from the criminal lifestyle and rather, has continued at each turn to associate himself with high-level drug trafficking organizations that supplied him with significant quantities of methamphetamine to redistribute. His complete noncompliance with terms of supervision further underscores the need for a significant sentence," Assistant United States Attorney Amy Jaquette wrote in the government sentencing memo. This prosecution is part of an Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETF) investigation. OCDETF identifies, disrupts, and dismantles the highest-level drug traffickers, money launderers, gangs, and transnational criminal organizations that threaten the United States by using a prosecutor-led, intelligence-driven, multi-agency approach that leverages the strengths of federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies against criminal networks. The investigation was conducted by the Internal Revenue Service Criminal Investigation (IRS-CI), the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration's (DEA) Tacoma Resident Office in partnership with Tahoma Narcotics Enforcement Team (TNET), Kent Police Department, Homeland Security Investigations, SeaTac Police Department, Thurston County Narcotics Team (TNT), the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF). The case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Amy Jaquette and C. Andrew Colasurdo.
