Tri-Cities gang member sentenced in jailhouse drug smuggling ring

A 24-year-old man will serve more than 13 years in prison for his role in a jailhouse smuggling ring, in which a Benton County corrections officer allegedly handed off drugs and cellphones to inmates.

Alejandro Leon also was accused of helping to distribute thousands of fentanyl-laced pills throughout the Tri-Cities.

Leon pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court to: conspiracy to provide prohibited objects to an inmate in prison; possessing a prohibited object; and felon in possession of a gun and ammunition.

The Pasco man is a Florencia 13 gang member, according to a news release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Eastern Washington.

Fresh out of prison in late 2017 for a drive-by shooting, Leon started working with a criminal organization that was responsible for distributing large quantities of heroin and fentanyl-laced pills, the news release said.

He was still under Washington Department of Corrections supervision for that first-degree assault with a deadly weapon conviction when a federal grand jury returned three separate indictments against him.

Local and federal drug investigators found evidence linking Leon to the criminal organization when they searched his partner’s apartment in March 2019 and seized 5,000 fentanyl pills, 1 pound of heroin, more than $20,000 in cash, drug ledgers, scales and cellphones.

When Leon was arrested on those drugs charges in October 2019, the convicted felon had a loaded pistol and ammunition.

He was in the Benton County jail under a U.S. Marshals hold when he got “involved in a conspiracy to smuggle illegal contraband” into the facility, the news release said.

Jail smuggling

Court documents show seven people were indicted for the smuggling scheme at the Kennewick jail, including Eric Christian.

Christian had worked in the facility for about four years, but is no longer employed by Benton County. He is accused of working with two women, who were not in custody, to deliver methamphetamine, heroin, marijuana, a prescription drug and phones to several inmates.

The scheme started some time before Dec. 8, 2019, and continued until April 2020.

The other defendants are: Lance Horntvedt Sr.; Joel Cervantes; Giovanni Kinsey; Alyssa Cantu; and Marilou Martinez.

Documents show Horntvedt directed the women to give the phones and drugs to Christian. Then, Horntvedt allegedly passed them out to Leon, Cervantes and Kinsey, while also keeping some for personal use.

Cervantes is scheduled to change his plea at a July 21 hearing in federal court.

Christian, Cantu, Martinez and Kinsey are set for trial Aug. 16.

The status of Horntvedt’s case is not clear from online court records.

Chief Judge Stanley A. Bastian ruled Leon “posed a danger to the community and an extreme risk to re-offend given his significant criminal history and recidivist criminal behavior,” the U.S. Attorney’s Office’s release said.

Leon was ordered to serve eight years and four months on the gun charge, and five years for the jail contraband. The two terms will be served back-to-back for a total 13 years and four months.

“The United States Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Washington commends the law enforcement officers with the federal and local agencies who investigated this case,” said Joseph H. Harrington, acting U.S. attorney for the Eastern Washington district. “Their seamless partnership resulted in the successful outcome of this matter.”

“The sentence imposed by the court removes a drug trafficker and violent offender from our streets and sends a clear message to others who may choose to engage in such criminal activity,” he added.

The case was investigated by the Drug Enforcement Administration — Tri-Cities Task Force, Tri-City Metro Drug Task Force, Pasco police Street Crimes Unit, U.S. Marshals Service and Benton County Sheriff’s Office.

It was part of an Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETF) operation, which “identifies, disrupts, and dismantles the highest-level criminal organizations that threaten the United States” through a multi-agency approach.

Leon already has filed a notice with the court that he intends to appeal his two sentences.