Forks man pleads guilty to federal charges

TACOMA — A Forks man, who police arrested last summer after finding a golf-ball-sized amount of methamphetamine in a baby’s diaper and the child’s mother hiding in the trunk of a car, has pleaded guilty in federal court to related drug charges.

Dennis Jason Wayne Fisher pleaded guilty Monday to distribution of heroin and felon in possession of a firearm.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation arrested Fisher in December on several federal drug and firearm charges that were the culmination of a several-months-long Olympic Peninsula Narcotics Enforcement Team investigation.

A sentencing hearing is set for Nov. 5 in United States District Court in Tacoma.

A grand jury indicted Fisher in January on charges of possession of methamphetamine with intent to distribute, two counts of distribution of heroin, distribution of methamphetamine and felon in possession of a firearm.

The FBI’s investigation began after June 25, 2017, when Forks Police Officer Joseph Solberg stopped Fisher and found meth in the baby’s diaper, according to court papers.

Local charges stemming from that incident were dismissed the day after he was indicted on federal charges.

During the traffic stop on Fir Avenue, Solberg said he noticed a small child in the back screaming and crying “Mommy” while hitting and grabbing at the back seat.

The child’s mother could be heard pounding on the inside of the trunk saying “Let me out,” according to Solberg’s narrative.

The woman climbed out of the trunk and made arrangements for a friend to pick up her child before she was taken to jail.

“As [the woman] got the baby and was hugging her, [she] asked, ‘What’s in her diaper?’ ” Solberg wrote.

“Fisher stated, ‘poop.’ ”

Solberg put on a pair of exam gloves and retrieved a plastic bag containing a golf ball-sized amount of methamphetamine from the baby’s diaper, according to court papers.

After searching the car the next day, police said they found 500 Mexican pesos and a large container of 11 loaded syringes inside, federal court papers said. Most of the loaded syringes contained a dark substance while one contained a clearer liquid, but the Forks Police Department didn’t test the substances.

Last year the FBI used criminal informants to make a purchase of drugs from Fisher, court papers said.

When investigators listened to the audio from the purchase, they overheard Fisher making comments about his AR-15 rifle, they said.

Informants purchased meth, heroin and a handgun from Fisher, according to the complaint.

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Reporter Jesse Major can be reached at 360-452-2345, ext. 56250, or at jmajor@peninsula dailynews.com.

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