SEATTLE — The former operator of clean-and-sober houses in Everett was sentenced Friday to six years in federal prison for drug trafficking.
Timothy Rehberg, 50, argued that his role in the community for the past decade should earn him some leniency. Rehberg founded and operated I.C. Clean People Recovery Housing, a nonprofit organization that advertised low-cost housing and assistance to recovering addicts.
“It must be acknowledged that prior to Mr. Rehberg’s relapse he worked tirelessly and sincerely to expand his nonprofit business and his subsequent fall from grace does not wipe that from his history,” his attorney David Hammerstad wrote in court papers.
Federal prosecutors saw it differently, saying Rehberg “indisputably knew about the dangers posed by the drugs that he peddled. The residents of his homes, with whom he came in constant contact, provided him a daily reminder of the debilitating impact that drug abuse (and the drug trafficking that leads to that abuse) can have.”
Rehberg chose to deal on the same property where one of those homes was located.
“While holding himself out to the public as a specialist in recovering from drug addiction (and earning money from that role), the defendant dealt large quantities of heroin and methamphetamine,” Assistant U.S. Attorney Siddharth Velamoor wrote.
Rehberg came to the attention of federal authorities investigating a drug trafficking organization. Early last year, a confidential informant bought drugs from Rehberg on four separate occasions and Rehberg was arrested in February.
He provided agents with the code to a locked safe inside a detached garage on Everett Avenue that Rehberg used as an office. The garage was located at one of the clean-and-sober houses.
The safe contained a pound of meth, a quarter-pound of heroin, marijuana, suboxone and oxycodone. The agents also found a loaded Smith &Wesson .38-caliber revolver. Rehberg is a convicted felon and was prohibited from possessing a gun.
Federal agents did not find evidence that Rehberg dealt to renters, according to court documents. One renter suspected that the foot traffic was due to drug trafficking, according to court papers.
Rehberg, however, may have turned a blind eye to renters who were using, a Snohomish County jury was told earlier this week. Rehberg was dating one of the tenants, who’d relapsed. The manager of the house alleged that he wasn’t able to evict the woman because of her relationship with Rehberg. She brought drugs and dealers to the house.
That created a conflict with the manager, Tye Fleischer. Fleischer is on trial in Snohomish County Superior Court for wounding the woman and killing a drug dealer who had visited the clean-and-sober house. A second woman also was killed in the 2015 shooting.
At the time of his arrest, Rehberg was under house arrest for a recent domestic violence incident and was wearing a court-ordered electronic monitoring bracelet on his ankle. He also was carrying $6,000 in cash and two cellphones.
Rehberg pleaded guilty in September to possession of methamphetamine and heroin with intent to distribute and possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug-trafficking crime.
Federal prosecutors recommended a seven-year sentence.
“The defendant trafficked two of the most dangerous controlled substances now in circulation: heroin and methamphetamine,” Velamoor wrote. “His conduct likely has endangered dozens of lives in this district.”
Rehberg’s attorney recommended a four-year sentence, arguing that he “deserves some credit for the good that he did.”
Rehberg has claimed that he turned to drug trafficking after he injured his shoulder and developed an addiction to painkillers. He turned to dealing to cover his $300 per day oxycodone and methadone habit, his attorney wrote.
“Nothing about his injury, his addiction to painkillers, or his financial situation pressured him to turn to drug dealing; he did so solely because the opportunity existed and he believed he could profit from it,” Velamoor wrote.
His tenants paid Rehberg rent in the form of vouchers from the state of Washington.
“In short, through his conduct, the defendant betrayed the trust placed in him by the recovering addicts who chose his homes over other available alternatives,” the federal prosecutor added.
Rehberg now is banned from operating a charity or soliciting donations for charitable organizations. He agreed to those terms to settle an injunction filed by the state Attorney General’s Office against I.C. Clean People Recovery Housing. The injunction alleged that Rehberg violated the Charitable Solicitations Act and the Consumer Protection Act.
Rehberg also agreed to forfeit nearly $15,000, the balance of his bank accounts, to the state. Nearly $9,500 will be donated to a charity that provides housing to people recovering from alcohol and drug addictions, according to the settlement. The remaining balance will be used to pay court costs.
The city of Everett doesn’t issue permits for clean-and-sober houses. The current codes allow for up to four unrelated adults to live together. If the adults are disabled, the home can house up to eight people. Under federal housing rules, recovering addicts are considered disabled. Any more tenants in one home requires a city review.
Everett is considering new rules that would reduce the number of unrelated people allowed under one roof before triggering more scrutiny by the city.
Diana Hefley: 425-339-3463; hefley@heraldnet.com.
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