PORT ANGELES — A Tacoma man has been sentenced to six years in prison for trying to smuggle methamphetamine into the Clallam Bay Corrections Center, the Clallam County Sheriff’s Office announced.
Arturo A. Ramirez, 26, was sentenced Tuesday after pleading guilty to one count of delivery of a controlled substance, Clallam County Superior Court records show.
Investigators said Ramirez, who was released from the prison in August, delivered 60.9 grams of methamphetamine to the Olympic Peninsula Narcotics Enforcement Team (OPNET) in a Sept. 12 sting operation in Port Angeles.
The methamphetamine, which was wrapped tightly inside two burritos, had a street value of $4,872 and a prison value of $24,360, OPNET Sgt. Tom Kuch has said.
Ramirez’s co-defendant — Jose L. Orozco, 39, of Rochester — also was charged in Clallam County Superior Court with one count of delivery of a controlled substance.
Orozco is being held in the Clallam County jail on $75,000 bail. A one-week trial in his case is scheduled to begin Nov. 13.
Clallam Bay Corrections Center investigators said they uncovered a plot to deliver methamphetamine to the prison. The inmates were known to be affiliated with the the street gangs MS13 and the BGDs, also known as the Black Gangster Disciples, OPNET officials said.
A corrections officer reported Sept. 5 that he had been solicited by an inmate to smuggle methamphetamine.
The officer agreed to wear a device to record his conversations with the inmate, OPNET Detective Rick Larsen said in the probable cause statement.
The conversations led to an arranged sale in which Ramirez was to deliver the methamphetamine to the officer’s vehicle — an undercover OPNET car — and lock the door.
“I texted the male [Ramirez] at the above cell number and told him to make sure the meth was wrapped good so I could roll it into my tortilla with lettuce and cheese,” Larsen said.
“The male texted back and said ‘I already have them ready to go … yes sir, your car will be locked.’ ”
The methamphetamine was intercepted on Ediz Hook at about 8 p.m. Sept. 12.
“Once the male opened the driver door and placed the bag inside of the vehicle, OPNET and federal agents surrounded the male with my emergency light activated,” Larsen said.
“The male was taken into custody without incident.”
Orozco, who had fled to the rocks on the north side of Ediz Hook, also was arrested in the OPNET sting. A female driver who accompanied Ramirez and Orozco from Tacoma to Port Angeles was interviewed and released.
In addition to his 72-month prison sentence, Ramirez was ordered to pay $1,700 in court fees and a $1,000 OPNET fine, according to the minutes of his sentencing hearing.
Ramirez will be on community custody for one year after his release, Clallam County Superior Court Judge Christopher Melly ruled.
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Reporter Rob Ollikainen can be reached at 360-452-2345, ext. 56450, or at rollikainen@peninsuladailynews.com.
