2 Pierce County residents worked with Aryan gangs to sell drugs. They’re off to prison
Two Pierce County residents were sentenced Friday in the U.S. District Court in Tacoma for their roles in a drug-trafficking ring that is connected to Aryan prison gangs.
Eric Smith, 54 of Tacoma, was sentenced to 12 years in prison. Sara Thompson, 39 of Bonney Lake, was sentenced to seven years, according to a Department of Justice news release. Smith and Thompson both pleaded guilty last year to conspiring with members of the ring to smuggle drugs to Washington.
“Both of these defendants served as trusted co-conspirators for the leaders of distribution cells identified in this case,” U.S. Attorney Tessa Gorman said in the release. “As such they are responsible for distributing hundreds of thousands of doses of potentially deadly fentanyl and methamphetamine. The damage done to our communities is severe.”
Smith was a customer and redistributor for the leader of the drug ring, Jesse Bailey, the release said. Smith helped wash over 50 kilograms of methamphetamine so it could be prepared for distribution.
He pleaded guilty Nov. 1, 2024 to conspiracy to distribute controlled substances and possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug-trafficking crime, the release said.
Thompson pleaded guilty in August 2024 to conspiracy to distribute controlled substances, the release said.
She was in a romantic relationship with 39-year-old Yehoshua Kilp, the leader of a drug-distribution cell, the release said. She was a proxy for bigger narcotics deals.
“Law enforcement raided the Airbnb she stayed at with Kilp immediately after one of these deals and seized nearly 45 kilograms of methamphetamine, and over 5 kilograms of fentanyl in powder and pill form. Thompson continued to sell drugs on behalf of the drug trafficking organization even after Kilp was arrested on state charges,” the release said.
David F. Reames, special agent in charge for the Drug Enforcement Administration in the Seattle Field Division, said in the release that Smith and Thompson helped a hate group distribute over a million possibly lethal doses of fentanyl into Washington.
“We, at the Drug Enforcement Administration, and our partners will do everything in our power to stop those who try to poison and destroy our communities with drugs, violence, and hate,” the release said.
About two dozen arrests were made in connection with the ring in March 2023.
“On that day law enforcement seized 177 firearms, more than ten kilos of methamphetamine, 11 kilos of fentanyl pills and more than a kilo of fentanyl powder, three kilos of heroin, and more than $330,000 in cash from eighteen locations in Washington and Arizona,” the release said. “Earlier in the investigation law enforcement seized 830,000 fentanyl pills, 5.5 pounds of fentanyl powder, 223 pounds of methamphetamine, 3.5 pounds of heroin, 5 pounds of cocaine, $388,000 in cash, and 48 firearms.”
Bailey is expected to be sentenced May 16, while his wife and co-conspirator, Candace Bailey, will be sentenced on June 13.
