EVERETT — Levi Graham finally ran out of chances.
Graham has been arrested repeatedly for peddling heroin and methamphetamine, mainly in Everett. He’d get caught, booked into jail, bail out and go back to slinging dope. He racked up seven felony drug charges between 2012 and last year.
He told the cops he was working to take care of his children.
A Snohomish County Superior Court judge late last month sentenced Graham to nearly nine years in prison. She turned down Graham’s request for an alternative sentence available to certain drug offenders.
That program would have allowed Graham, 31, to serve half his time behind bars and the rest out in the community, where he would have been supervised and required to undergo intensive drug treatment.
His defense attorney argued that Graham needs treatment more than prison. The option “allows this court and taxpayers less cost and less risk; if Mr. Graham is truly seeking change, then society will be all the better for someone who actually is contributing in a law-abiding way, and has the skills to maintain sobriety,” Derek Conom wrote in court papers.
Graham reported he was 14 when he started using heroin. He’s been to treatment a few times, including in 2012. He reported relapsing after completing a month of inpatient treatment and six months of outpatient in Everett.
Conom pointed out that the state Department of Corrections first recommended the alternative sentence for Graham. That position was changed after the department learned that Graham had been arrested again and was facing new potential charges.
Conom claimed the report writer was influenced by the prosecutor’s office. He urged the court to either rely on the first report or disregard the subsequent recommendations.
Superior Court Judge Anita Farris concluded that an alternative sentence wasn’t appropriate because of the volume and frequency of Graham’s drug trafficking, according to court records. She also was troubled by the defendant’s history of being released from jail and going back to dealing drugs.
Deputy prosecutor Lisa Paul was opposed to the defendant’s request. She said the program “is not designed for higher-level dealers.”
“The scarce resources of the state are better used to treat offenders who are struggling to feed their own addictions, not to provide less prison time to someone who is making a living off of drug addicts …” Paul wrote.
Graham was trafficking large quantities “for profit, not to support his own habit,” she wrote.
Graham was offered a way out of his 2012 felony case. He’d been caught with less than a gram of heroin, along with $2,100 in cash. The prosecutor’s office allowed him to enter the Therapeutic Alternatives Program in 2013. The diversion program is offered to defendants facing criminal charges who have drug addictions or mental health issues.
Graham had already enrolled in traditional drug counseling along with methadone treatment, according to court records. He engaged in treatment at the urging of Child Protective Services, which had removed his children because of the 2012 criminal charge.
He was kicked out of the program in 2014 because he didn’t comply with the rules, including failing to attend treatment, according to court records.
That same year he was arrested while dealing drugs on a street corner. He had $2,100 in his pocket. When police confronted him about the cash and said it wasn’t earned legitimately, Graham replied, “It legitimately puts food on my kids’ table.”
He racked up another drug charge in 2015 and four more in 2016.
Officers were told that “Graham was quite brazen about his dealing, conducting drug sales on the streets, as well as at the methadone clinic where heroin users attempt to seek help for their addiction,” Paul wrote in court papers.
Graham was out on bail in October when he was arrested outside an Everett grocery store. Police watched as people flocked to Graham’s vehicle. He made brief contact with multiple drivers.
Officers obtained a search warrant for Graham’s car. Inside they found a lock box designed to look like a book. The box contained heroin and meth. More drugs were found inside the center console. In total, police found a third of a pound of heroin, worth about $17,000. They also found about $3,100 worth of meth, Paul wrote.
Police found four cellphones. One rang continually and the screen showed 82 missed calls.
Graham bailed out of jail but was back behind bars less than a month later. Everett police had raided his house near the Tulalip Indian Reservation and allegedly discovered a stolen firearm. They also reported finding a half-pound of heroin and $3,700 in the refrigerator.
As officers were leaving, a neighbor provided a digital camera memory card reportedly containing photographs that documented drug dealing at the house. One of the photographs showed Graham flipping off the neighbor.
Bail was set at $8 million, enough to keep Graham behind bars until he was sentenced last month.
He is still facing drug and gun charges from the November raid. His trial is scheduled for May.
Diana Hefley: 425-339-3463; hefley@heraldnet.com.
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