Everett man sentenced for trafficking drugs in Seattle

Published 1:16 pm Thursday, July 16, 2026

EVERETT — An Everett man will spend years in federal prison for trafficking drugs to people in homeless encampments and Seattle’s International District.

Isai Gamboa Pacheco, 56, was one of two people sentenced for drug and gun crimes in U.S. District Court in Seattle on Wednesday afternoon, according to a press release from the Department of Justice.

Gamboa Pacheco received a six-year prison sentence after pleading guilty for of conspiracy to distribute controlled substances and being an alien in possession of a firearm in March, the DOJ said.

Gamboa Pacheco has no legal status in the U.S. and was previously removed to Mexico, federal officials said.

“Despite a previous conviction for the same offence, you came back to this country and did it again… but on a much larger scale,” U.S. District Judge Tana Lin said during the sentencing, according to the release. “You were a source of a significant amount of cocaine to members of this community. Cocaine is one of the most common drugs involved in overdose deaths. What you did contributed to that suffering.”

The charges stem from a sprawling investigation involving the Seattle Police Department, FBI and DEA that began in Nov. 2023, the release said.

The agencies focused on drug trafficking organizations dealing drugs like fentanyl, methamphetamine, cocaine and heroin in homeless encampments along I-5, as well as the International District in Seattle, according to the DOJ.

Gamboa Pacheco was arrested after investigators reportedly heard him on a wiretap making deals for kilograms of cocaine, the DOJ said.

More than $16,000 in suspected drug proceeds were recovered during a search of Gamboa Pacheco’s home, the release said. Investigators also found three kilograms of methamphetamine and an unloaded AR-15 assault rifle in his car.

Prosecutors said this was the man’s second drug trafficking conviction.

“Even after being caught previously and after receiving a considerable prison sentence, he voluntarily re-engaged in drug trafficking activities solely for his personal profit,” prosecutors said in their sentencing recommendation. “Moreover, while engaging in his drug trafficking activities, he obtained a firearm knowing he could not legally possess it.”

A man from Kent received a five-and-a-half-year prison sentence for his role in the same drug trafficking operation, according to the DOJ.

Ian Davis-Leonard: 425-339-3097; ian.davis-leonard@heraldnet.com