‘Right-hand man’ in Snohomish County drug ring sentenced to 10 years

MONROE — A Monroe man, who federal prosecutors called the “right-hand man” in a local drug ring that distributed methamphetamine, heroin and fentanyl, was sentenced last week to 10 years in prison.

In April, a jury convicted Humberto Garcia, 42, of conspiracy to distribute controlled substances in U.S. District Court in Seattle.

Federal investigators began looking into the group in early 2020, according to court documents. They learned a confidential informant had obtained from a broker in Mexico a phone number for a drug supplier in Western Washington.

So the investigators arranged to buy a pound of meth from the supplier, later identified as Jose Luis Ibarra-Valle, of Woodinville, according to court papers. After the deal, Ibarra-Valle got a new phone number. Detectives tapped that phone to intercept his communications.

Those communications reportedly showed Ibarra-Valle and his co-conspirators, including Garcia, were distributing large amounts of meth, heroin and fentanyl. Ibarra-Valle would drive from Washington to California and Oregon to pick up drugs, then give them back to his distributors, including Garcia.

In September 2020, Ibarra-Valle and Garcia discussed a customer dying from the drugs they dealt, according to court filings.

And later, Garcia agreed to help track down a customer who owed a debt to Ibarra-Valle and supply him a gun he planned to use to kill that customer. Federal prosecutors note Garcia did this reluctantly, and suggested using a baseball bat, instead.

As part of their investigation, federal agents seized what they believed to be 16,000 fentanyl pills, 30 pounds of meth and 6 pounds of heroin.

Garcia has a lengthy criminal history, including convictions for identity theft, possession of stolen property and a prior drug offense.

On Friday, federal prosecutors recommended Judge Richard Jones sentence Garcia to 13 years in prison. Garcia’s defense attorney asked for 10 years, the mandatory minimum under federal law, noting this would still be the longest prison term of anyone in the ring. In court filings, the defense attorney noted Garcia accepted responsibility for his actions and wrote they stemmed from the defendant’s drug use.

Jones sided with the defense. The judge also recommended Garcia undergo intensive drug treatment in prison.

Garcia was the last defendant of the eight members of the drug trafficking group indicted in federal court to be sentenced. The others received varying prison terms:

• Ibarra-Valle was sentenced to nine years in prison;

• Jesus Gutierrez-Garcia, of Everett, got 6½ years;

• Lee Wallette, of Mountlake Terrace, got six years;

• Santos Caro, of Portland, Oregon, got five years;

• Tisha Girtz, of Lake Stevens, got 4½ years.

• Jesus Garnica-Melgoza, of Seattle, got 3½ years; and

• Charles Hoffman, of Tulalip, was sentenced to time served.

Jake Goldstein-Street: 425-339-3439; jake.goldstein-street@heraldnet.com; X: @GoldsteinStreet.