NORTH BEND, Wash. — A King County couple was indicted by a federal grand jury Wednesday for possession of fentanyl with intent to distribute and unlawful possession of a machine gun, unlawful possession of destructive devices, and unlawful possession of silencers, according to U.S. Attorney Tessa M. Gorman.
The case started when King County deputies responded to a motorhome near North Bend in unincorporated King County on May 12 for reports of a shooting. Braiden Wilson, 28, was shot in the arm, according to court documents, and his girlfriend, 30-year-old Chandler Bennett was a witness to the shooting.
According to federal investigators, King County deputies noticed surveillance cameras in the pointing toward where the shooting happened and the coupled refused to let deputies look at the footage or go inside the RV. Deputies then got a search warrant.
“They had everything that you don't want to be around in a small recreational vehicle,” said Steven Schrank the special agent in charge for Homeland Security in the Pacific Northwest.
The two are now charged with federal crimes after investigators said law enforcement found a stash of weapons, drugs and explosives.
Court documents said investigators seized 17 firearms, including automatic weapons, many of which without serial numbers. Officers also say they found body armor, silencers, and ballistic shields. Court documents show they found gun parts made from 3D printers making them untraceable.
Documents showed more than two dozen grenades were found and federal prosecutors said there multiple destructive devices and a combination of parts to make a pipe bomb.
“It was dangerous for our teams to be there for the individuals that were living in the RV and we were very concerned about what the intent was with possession of those items,” Schrank said.
Investigators said they found multiple kilograms of fentanyl powder, chemicals to make the drugs, and thousands of pills including counterfeit ones.
“One of the pill presses that was seized in the search warrant over the weekend was capable of producing hundreds of thousands of pills. This raises another alarming pattern that we see within our public that when individuals ingest pills, they have no idea what is in fact going into this,” said Schrank.
Investigators didn’t find a significant amount of cash in the RV but the drugs they found would be worth a significant amount.
“These are profit driven crimes, ultimately they were selling these things for profit and that was the significant value of fentanyl that was taken off of the street and all similarly, if that was converted to cash, it would be quite a lot of money,” Schrank said.
The investigation included multiple agencies including ATF, King County Sheriff’s Office, DEA, and Homeland Security.
Federal agents said their investigation is far from over. If the couple is convicted of the allegations against them, they could face up to 35 years in prison.
The two will be arraigned for the jury indictment next week.