PORT TOWNSEND — A Port Townsend man who pleaded guilty to drug possession charges was found dead the night before he was scheduled to be sentenced.
Ian Kane Wilson died Thursday, less than 24 hours before he was to appear in Jefferson County Superior Court. He was 30.
Chris Ashcraft, the county’s chief criminal deputy prosecuting attorney, said the cause of death is undetermined as the county waits for autopsy and toxicology reports.
The county prosecutor’s office also has duties as coroner.
Defense attorney Joe Schodowski of Schodowski Law moved on Friday to dismiss the active case as well as one Wilson had pending.
“Mr. Wilson passed away last night, tragically,” Schodowski told the court.
Wilson pleaded guilty to possession of cocaine with the intent to manufacture or deliver, a Class B felony punishable by a maximum of 10 years in prison and/or a $25,000 fine.
As part of a the plea agreement, additional charges for possession of heroin and driving under the influence of drugs were dismissed.
Wilson faced a standard sentencing range of 12 to 20 months in prison, but Schodowski said he was in line to receive a residential drug offender sentencing alternative (DOSA) that would have resulted in six months of inpatient treatment.
“I thought this resolution was the best for Ian,” Schodowski said later Friday. “It would have been the help everybody, including the prosecutor, thought he needed.”
Schodowski said Wilson’s death came as a surprise.
“Ian struggled with addiction his entire life,” he said. “I don’t know if his addiction was the cause of this, but it certainly played a part for sure.
“My heart goes out to his family.”
Wilson was stopped by Jefferson County Sheriff’s Deputy Brandon Przygocki about 1:43 a.m. on July 1, 2018, after he crossed the center line on Center Road near Egg and I Road and nearly collided with Przygocki, according to the police report.
The deputy noted Wilson crossed the center and fog lines several times at slow speeds before he pulled him over.
Przygocki said Wilson appeared to be relaxed and had droopy eyelids, bloodshot eyes and constricted pupils that had little to no reaction when he shined light on them, according to the report.
During a search, the deputy found drug paraphernalia that Wilson admitted he used to smoke cocaine, according to the police report.
Wilson consented to a search of his backpack, and Przygocki reported he found 22.64 grams of cocaine, 50.20 grams of gunpowder heroin and 2.60 grams of black tar heroin in addition to a digital scale.
Wilson had $224 in cash and a bag with a large amount of suspected cocaine labeled “40 oz,” according to the police report.
The deputy was granted a search warrant via email to obtain a sample of Wilson’s blood to test for drugs, the report said.
Schodowski said he’d enjoyed getting to know Wilson during the past 18 months.
“He was a pleasure to work with,” he said. “It’s just awful.”
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Jefferson County Managing Editor Brian McLean can be reached at 360-385-2335, ext. 6, or at bmclean@peninsuladailynews.com.
