TACOMA — Two Canadian men who tried bringing 578 pounds of marijuana ashore in Clallam County’s West End will be sentenced in March for conspiracy to import a controlled substance, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Tacoma.
Authorities valued the marijuana, known as high-quality “B.C. bud,” at $1 million to $2 million.
Colin Charles Crowe and Kyle Grayson Gadsby, both in their mid-20s, pleaded guilty in December, agency spokeswoman Emily Langlie said Tuesday.
Crowe and Gadsby, both of Maple Ridge, B.C., face five to 40 years imprisonment and fines of up to $2 million each, and will have at least four years of court supervision following their release.
Their guilty pleas also may subject them to automatic deportation, according to court documents.
They posted property bonds and were released on their own recognizance pending sentencing, which will be March 7 for Gadsby and March 21 for Crowe, Langlie said.
Both reached plea agreements, but Gadsby’s is sealed.
“They get sealed for a variety of reasons,” Langlie said.
Paid to transport
When they were caught May 31, Crowe and Gadsby told U.S. Border Patrol agents they were each to be paid $5,000 for transporting the marijuana across the Strait of Juan de Fuca from British Columbia to a beach on the U.S. side, where the haul was to be picked up by another person.
They told authorities they were to call an unknown person by radio when they arrived in the United States.
No one else has been charged in the case, Langlie said.
“I’m sure it’s an ongoing investigation,” she said.
Crowe, then 26, and Gadsby, then 25, were nabbed after Border Patrol agent Peter Gomez saw the two men and their small vessel on a beach next to state Highway 112 near Clallam Bay, according to the federal complaint.
One was in the boat, one was in the water next to the boat, and several large, dark, shiny packages — eight in total, it was later discovered — were in the boat and on the beach.
Gomez heard one of the men say, “This is not good. Get the stuff and get back in the boat,” and the two fled, according to the complaint.
Chase on water
Customs and Border Protection Office of Air and Marine agents gave chase aboard an enforcement vessel.
Crowe and Gadsby were apprehended at 2 a.m. about 1 1/2 miles from where they were first discovered.
During the chase, they threw the bags of marijuana overboard.
According to the complaint, Gomez identified the beach where he first saw the two men as “an easy boat ride from British Columbia and was commonly used as a landing point for smugglers.”
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Senior staff writer Paul Gottlieb can be reached at 360-417-3536 or at paul.gottlieb@peninsuladailynews.com.
