EVERETT —An Everett man who was a former inmate turned criminal justice advocate was indicted Thursday along with two other suspects in connection with federal drug and weapons charges.
As first reported in The Seattle Times, a grand jury indicted Percy Levy, 54, with conspiracy to distribute controlled substances, including fentanyl, and unlawful possession of a firearm. He is being held in federal detention in SeaTac.
Levy was arrested March 13 during a traffic stop that followed an undercover buy. A subsequent search of his Everett residence uncovered a loaded handgun under a pillow, a safe containing 2,818.9 grams of powder cocaine, 14.7 grams of rock cocaine and 556.1 grams of fentanyl, according to court documents.
The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration estimates that just 1 kilogram of fentanyl has the potential to kill 500,000 people. The amount recovered from Levy’s bedroom could kill approximately 278,000 people — more than the populations of Everett, Bellingham and Lynnwood combined.
Levy was originally charged with six felony offenses, including five counts of conspiracy to deliver narcotics with intent to sell. He also faced one count of unlawful possession of a firearm in the first degree.
Along with Levy, Robert Baggett and Eugene Smith were also indicted.
On March 21, police arrested Smith, 69, in Everett and charged him with the suspicion of three felony charges related to the intent to sell narcotics, including fetanyl, documents said. of At the time of his arrest, police said Smith was driving a 2015 Ford Explorer in the 12800 block of Highway 99 — the same vehicle and driver identified in police documents from a February undercover operation. During that sting, detectives reported purchasing cocaine from a man known as “Shmitty,” documents said.
The arrest came weeks after Smith allegedly delivered 6 ounces of cocaine to an undercover officer on Feb. 28 at a Tulalip residence, according to police documents. During the exchange, Smith reportedly told the officer he was delivering for his “guy,” referring to Levy, according to a probable cause stament.
On March 13, the day of Levy’s arrest, detectives allege Smith sold 5 ounces of cocaine and a sample of fentanyl to the same undercover officer in the parking lot of Angel of the Winds Casino in Arlington.
Smith has a criminal record, including 16 arrests in Washington and six felony convictions, according to a probable cause affidavit. Among those are robbery, assault and drug charges. He was sentenced to life without early release in 1996 but granted a conditional commutation in 2020, documents said.
Smith’s arrest is the latest development in a 16-month investigation by the Snohomish Regional Drug Task Force, which began investigating Levy in early 2024. Undercover officers conducted a series of controlled purchases of cocaine, fentanyl and a stolen firearm, often arranged through intermediaries, police said. Surveillance units repeatedly traced the activity back to Levy’s homes in Everett and Shoreline.
Smith, who is tied to the investigation, was held on federal charges on March 26, five days after his first arrest, and was transferred to the Federal Detention Center early Thursday. His original three state felony drug charges are dismissed by Snohomish Regional Drug Task Force, and replaced with federal charges stemming from the same alleged conduct.
Levy previously served nearly 20 years in prison for a drug house robbery. His sentence was commuted by Gov. Jay Inslee in 2019. After his release, he became a reentry specialist with the Redemption Project, helping others seek resentencing following the Washington Supreme Court’s 2021 State v. Blake decision, which overturned the state’s felony drug possession law.
A judge set Levy’s bond at $1.5 million. On March 24, Levy was released on bond from Snohomish County Jail. Two days later, on March 26, the Snohomish Regional Drug Task Force arrested him again — this time on federal charges connected to the same case — and he was moved into the Federal Detention Center on March 27.
Aspen Anderson: 425-339-3192; aspen.anderson@heraldnet.com; X: @aspenwanderson.
Talk to us
> Give us your news tips.
> Send us a letter to the editor.
> More Herald contact information.
