Kennewick drug house guard and longtime Tri-Cities gang member each sent to federal prison

Two Tri-Cities men were sentenced last week to at least a decade each in prison in separate drug cases in federal court.

One was a Kennewick native involved in gangs since he was 10.

Another was described as a “grunt” from a poor family with little education who guarded a Kennewick drug house loaded with deadly fentanyl-laced pills and meth.

Kennewick drug house

Jesus B. Zavala-Alvarez, 28, was sentenced to 11 years and three months in prison after pleading guilty to guarding a Kennewick stash house for methamphetamine and fentanyl-laced pills.

Zavala-Alvarez was staying in the small house at 2012 S. Rainier Place, where officers seized about 19,000 counterfeit Oxycodone pills laced with fentanyl, 8 pounds of crystal methamphetamine, 64 ounces of liquid meth and 3 ounces of heroin.

The drugs were in a laundry room washer and dryer, in a cooler in a kitchen cabinet and in a freezer.

The Tri-Cities Drug Enforcement Agency found Zavala-Alvarez in a bedroom, where there was a gun between his mattress and the wall, $4,500 and six cellphones, according to court documents.

Federal prosecutors said the gun was handy to where he slept for easy access to protect the large shipment of narcotics inside the house that was part of a Mexico and United States drug trafficking organization operating in the Tri-Cities area.

Zavala-Alvarez’s attorney argued that he was just a “grunt” in the organization and did not make decisions or strategize.

He was raised in a poor family in Mexico and came to the United States three years ago, where he has done some work in landscaping, agriculture and construction and at a local garage, but had little education and limited financial prospects, according to his attorney.

“I knew about the drugs but I had nothing to do with selling them,” Zavala-Alvarez printed in Spanish in a note submitted to the judge.

But U.S. Judge Stanley Bastian said Zavala-Alvarez had a substantial role in the organization, including that he was entrusted to safe keep a large cache of drugs while armed with a loaded gun, according to the prosecution’s account of the sentencing hearing.

The judge acknowledged that this was Zavala-Alvarez’s first felony, but imposed a prison sentence of more than 11 years due to the seriousness of the case. After his release, he may be deported, according to court documents.

“The Zavala-Alvarez’s drug trafficking organization was flooding our city streets with their methamphetamine and poisonous fentanyl-laced counterfeit pills, marketed as legitimate prescription pills to unsuspecting victims of the Tri-Cities community,” said Frank Tarentino III, special agent in charge of the DEA in Seattle, in a statement after the sentencing.

Agencies involved in the investigation included the DEA Tri-Cities Office, Border Patrol, the Tri-City Metro Drug Task Force and the Richland, Kennewick and Pasco police departments.

Daniel Hernandez and Jesus Mendoza, also defendants in the case, have each pleaded guilty to conspiracy to distribute meth and fentanyl, but have not been sentenced.

Pasco drug dealer

David Reyes, 30, was sentenced him to 10 years in prison after pleading guilty to possessing methamphetamine and heroin with intent to sell it.

The known member of the Sureno Gang and goes by “Lil’ Monster” already has spent much of his adult life incarcerated for multiple felonies, according to court documents.

Reyes was under Washington state Department of Corrections supervision for multiple convictions in state court when state corrections officials came to his Pasco house in March 2021.

They had received a tip that he was selling drugs.

They found several thousand dollars, 350 grams of methamphetamine, 13 fentanyl-laced pills and 280 grams of heroin in his bedroom, according to court documents.

Under a plea agreement with the Eastern Washington District U.S. Attorney’s Office, he admitted to possessing meth to sell, and a charge of possessing heroin to sell was dropped.

Reyes’ attorney argued for no more than 10 years in prison, saying Reyes became involved with gangs at age 10 and believes that the gang violence he has witnessed has given him post traumatic stress disorder.

He is the father of twin preschoolers, who he feels he has let down, according to his attorney.

The prosecution argued in court documents that Reyes has a lengthy criminal history, starting at age 13, that includes drug dealing, unlawful firearm possession and significant acts of violence.

His most recent offense “appears to be in line with his lifestyle and choices over approximately the last 15 years,” it said.

The 10 years he is sentenced to will more than double the time he’s previously served.

The prosecution argued that meth overdoses are continuing to rise and, unlike opioids, there is no lifesaving drug, such as Narcan, to save people who overdose on meth.

“The fact that Mr. Reyes previously served time in prison was no deterrent to reoffending,” said Donald Voiret, special agent in charge for the FBI in Seattle. “This sentence will keep him from distributing drugs into our communities for the next decade.”

Agencies involved in the investigation included the FBI’s Safe Streets Task Force in the Tri-Cities, the Pasco Police Department and the Washington Department of Corrections.