Thurston County man caught twice with drugs and firearms sentenced to 7 years in prison

Press Release

Arrested with large amounts of fentanyl and methamphetamine and loaded firearms in home and car

Seattle - A 53-year-old resident of Rochester, Washington was sentenced today in U.S. District Court in Seattle to 7 years in prison for two federal felonies related to his armed drug trafficking activity, announced U.S. Attorney Tessa M. Gorman. Waylan Graves was arrested twice in a four-month period in 2023, each time with distribution amounts of dangerous drugs and loaded firearms.

On June 1, 2023, Graves was arrested by officers with the Thurston County Narcotics Enforcement Team. Law enforcement served a judicially authorized search warrant on Graves' home and car. In the home they found fentanyl pills, two firearms (one of them loaded) and nearly $5,000 in cash. In Graves' car they found a third loaded firearm as well as fentanyl pills, methamphetamine, cocaine and heroin. In the car was more than $10,000 in cash.

Graves was charged with drug and gun crimes in Thurston County Superior Court. He was released on bail. Less than four months later he was arrested a second time for drug trafficking.

On September 20, 2023, Graves was arrested with fentanyl pills, heroin, cocaine and methamphetamine in his car. A loaded semi-automatic pistol was in the void under the center console. Investigations also seized a scale and more than $3,000 cash - proceeds from Graves' drug dealing.

Graves was indicted federally in October 2023 for possession of controlled substances with intent to distribute and carrying a firearm during and in relation to a drug trafficking crime. Graves pleaded guilty to these crimes in July 2024.

Prosecutors asked for a seven-year sentence, noting the harm fentanyl in particular has been causing in our community writing, "The drugs that Mr. Graves was distributing have been causing irreparable harm to the community. As the Court is well aware, the influx of fentanyl has left a wake of destruction in the community. In King County alone, there have been 839 overdose deaths as of November 6, 2024, with 624 of those deaths involving fentanyl."

The case was investigated by the Drug Enforcement Administration, Puyallup Police Department, Thurston County Narcotics Enforcement Team, and the Joint Narcotics Enforcement Team.

The case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Casey S. Conzatti and Stephen Hobbs.

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Updated November 27, 2024