PORT TOWNSEND — An Anacortes man has pleaded guilty to first-degree trafficking in stolen property and will spend nearly two years in a prison-based drug treatment program.
Justin Theodore Watts, 32, also pleaded guilty on Friday in Jefferson County Superior Court to second-degree theft of an access device and unlawful production of payment instruments.
All three are felonies, with the trafficking conviction being the most serious in Class B.
Judge Keith Harper accepted the plea agreement for 19 months in a prison-based Drug Offender Sentencing Alternative (DOSA).
Watts will serve 19 months in community custody once he’s released, and he was ordered to pay $500 in legal financial obligations.
A restitution hearing was set for 8:30 a.m. March 13.
“From the moment I met him, he has talked about his dire need for treatment,” said Scott Charlton, Watts’ defense attorney. “He also wants to take responsibility for what he did early on in the process.”
As part of the deal, prosecutors dismissed four other cases against Watts that were being processed simultaneously.
Watts pleaded guilty to selling a stolen welder on Aug. 27.
He also pleaded guilty to having a Bank of America Visa card that belonged to someone else, and he produced a check from an account that didn’t belong to him.
Watts asked for either the prison-based DOSA or a residential drug program in a letter he addressed to the court.
“I have been a drug addict for pretty much my entire life since I was 9 years old when I started using,” he wrote. “The reason why it is so important to me to be allowed to do one of the two is because I have three children out here now that really need their father back in their lives and being sent away to prison definitely won’t do that for them.
“I know that if I do not do something immediately to get my drug addiction under control that my life will most likely come to an end sooner than later.
“I really, really don’t want my family or my kids to ever have to go through their lives dealing with me being gone due to an overdose or some other accident due to my drug use.”
Watts’ criminal history includes a July conviction in Jefferson County Superior Court for financial fraud and unlawful possession of a payment instrument.
He also has three Class C felony convictions in Skagit County from a 2016 case that involved second-degree theft, second-degree identity theft and forgery.
Watts was arrested in September in Port Hadlock with about 70 pieces of mail in a backpack he was holding, according to court documents.
Most of the mail was addressed to residences in the North Beach area.
He was also found to be in possession of methamphetamine, charges that were dismissed as part of Friday’s plea agreement.
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Jefferson County Managing Editor Brian McLean can be reached at 360-385-2335, ext. 6, or at bmclean@peninsuladailynews.com.
