White supremacists ran a drug ring before a mass arrest last year. Tacoma man sentenced
A Tacoma man with ties to white supremacist prison gangs was sentenced to more than six years in prison for helping distribute drugs in an operation that has turned up dozens of pounds of methamphetamine, thousands of fentanyl pills and large quantities of other drugs in a two-year investigation.
Ronnie Griffin, 66, received his 75-month prison sentence in U.S. District Court in Tacoma on Thursday, according to a release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office. He held a leadership role in a drug-distribution ring linked to the white supremacist Aryan Family prison gang, assisting his stepson Jesse Bailey as a redistributor and confidant, the news release said.
The full list of drugs seized by agents during their investigation of the involving Griffin, Bailey and others included an estimated 223 pounds of methamphetamine; an estimated 830,000 fentanyl pills; several pounds of fentanyl powder, cocaine, heroin and marijuana; $338,000 of suspected drug proceeds and 48 firearms, the release announcing Griffin’s sentence said. Authorities also seized about 22 pounds of methamphetamine, 26 pounds of fentanyl including both pills and powder, six pounds of heroin, over $330,000 of suspected drug proceeds and 177 more firearms during a series of arrests of organization members in March 2023.
Griffin’s list of prior criminal convictions include theft, forgery, possessing drugs and drug paraphernalia, unlawful possession of a weapon, identity theft, harassment and assault, as well as trying to run from law enforcement. He “has been in and out of prison most of his adult life,” prosecutors noted in the news release. He pleaded guilty Aug. 1 to conspiracy to distribute controlled substances.
He’s also a documented member of another Peckerwood prison gang, according to the release. The word “peckerwood” originated as a slang term used by African Americans for “woodpecker” in the 1800s but morphed into a derogatory term against white people beginning in the early 1900s, according to the Anti-Defamation League. It was later used to refer to white prisoners in general, particularly in Texas and California, and then took on associations with racist prison gangs and cliques, as well as street gangs.
Five other members of the ring have been sentenced to varying times in prison, including 20-50 months and up to 13 years.
Jesse Bailey, the ring leader, pleaded guilty in the same court Nov. 20 to drug trafficking, money laundering and firearms-related charges, and is scheduled for a sentencing hearing with his wife, Candace Bailey, on Feb. 28, 2025, according to another news release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
