EVERETT — A former Snohomish County Jail employee who admitted to smuggling opioids to inmates will not spend time behind bars, a judge ruled Monday.
Judge Marybeth Dingledy sentenced Alexis Wafstet to 45 days on house arrest in the defendant’s sentencing hearing in Snohomish County Superior Court.
Wafstet, 46, of Everett, pleaded guilty earlier this year to a felony for introducing contraband in the second degree.
She worked as a classification specialist at the jail from 2014 to 2020, according to the Snohomish County Sheriff’s Office.
On May 3, 2020, the Snohomish Regional Drug Task Force was alerted to possible drug smuggling in the jail, according to charging papers.
Detectives launched an investigation and identified Wafstet as a suspect. Wafstet was arrested May 12, 2020, for investigation of possessing heroin and other drugs. At the time, she was under investigation for smuggling narcotics into the jail at least three times, according to the sheriff’s office.
Under state guidelines, the Everett woman faced up to three months in custody.
Deputy prosecutor Sarah Johnson asked the judge to hand down a 45-day jail sentence. Defense attorney Mark Mestel asked the judge to give the defendant 30 days under house arrest, also known as electronic home monitoring.
In his sentencing memorandum, Mestel argued Wafstet was manipulated by an inmate at the jail — a place she’d worked without problem for six years.
Mestel told the judge Monday that Wafstet was not the type of person he would ever expect to see again in court.
“As we all know, sometimes life throws you curveballs,” Mestel said. “And she kind of missed this one.”
Wafstet has already suffered the loss of her job, as well as humiliation, the defense attorney argued.
“Every time we’ve been in court, except maybe for this time, the press has been there and it’s constantly brought to the public’s attention about what she did,” he said.
(The Daily Herald was at the hearing.)
Mestel, the defendant and the deputy prosecutor declined to comment Monday.
After announcing the sentence, the judge said Waftstet’s actions appeared to be a “terrible lapse of judgement.”
Ellen Dennis: 425-339-3486; edennis@heraldnet.com; Twitter: @reporterellen.
Talk to us
- You can tell us about news and ask us about our journalism by emailing newstips@heraldnet.com or by calling 425-339-3428.
- If you have an opinion you wish to share for publication, send a letter to the editor to letters@heraldnet.com or by regular mail to The Daily Herald, Letters, P.O. Box 930, Everett, WA 98206.
- More contact information is here.
