TACOMA — A methamphetamine dealer active in the Sequim area and on the Lower Elwha Klallam and Jamestown S’Klallam reservations has been sentenced to more than five years in prison.
U.S. District Judge Benjamin H. Settle sentenced Kenneth Francis Simmons, 57, to 70 months in prison on Monday in federal district court in Tacoma.
Simmons had pleaded guilty to being a felon in possession of a firearm, possession of methamphetamine with intent to deliver, possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime and distribution of methamphetamine.
The case was investigated jointly beginning in 2019 by the FBI and the Olympic Peninsula Narcotics Enforcement Team.
According to court records, a person working with law enforcement had purchased methamphetamine in February, March and July in 2019, and Simmons was stopped for speeding on Aug. 16, 2019, and his car was impounded.
To that point, he had been convicted of unlawful possession of a firearm, possession of explosives without a license, possession of stolen property and two counts of manufacturing and possessing a controlled substance with the intent to deliver.
He also had five convictions for driving under the influence.
Inside Simmons’ vehicle authorities found a 9 mm semi-automatic pistol and 50 grams or more of methamphetamine, according to federal court records.
He also distributed 50 grams or more of methamphetamine on the Lower Elwha reservation in July 2019, distributed the drug in Sequim in July and March 2019, and on the Jamestown S’Klallam reservation in February 2019, according to the federal complaint.
Two confidential sources used in the investigation were equipped with covert recording-transmitting devices when they purchased the drugs from Simmons, according to court documents.
When Simmons was arrested Aug. 16, 2019, he had an expired proof of insurance card and was driving while his license was suspended, according to the complaint.
A handgun was in a paper bag in the truck, court documents said. Simmons had been ordered not to possess firearms as a convicted felon.
Inside the truck was a digital scale, 17 plastic baggies and 85.5 grams of methamphetamine, according to the complaint.
A loaded handgun found in the truck had been reported stolen.
Following Simmons’ arrest in Clallam County, the prosecuting attorney’s office turned the case over to the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Seattle.
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Senior Staff Writer Paul Gottlieb can be reached at 360-452-2345, ext. 55650, or at pgottlieb@ peninsuladailynews.com.
