<img height="1" width="1" style="display:none" src="https://www.facebook.com/tr?id=192888919167017&amp;ev=PageView&amp;noscript=1">
Thursday, March 28, 2024
March 28, 2024

Linkedin Pinterest

Update: Undercover operation snares 11 Clark County residents

Total of 25 face federal weapons charges

By Bob Albrecht
Published: March 4, 2011, 12:00am

Eleven Clark County residents are among 25 Portland-area defendants indicted this week on federal weapons charges resulting from an undercover bust.

In a Thursday morning news conference, the U.S. District Attorney for Oregon announced the indictments and displayed an array of weapons seized as part of the eight-month investigation. Among the nearly 80 weapons, many of which were stolen or believed to be used in the commission of crimes, were a sawed-off shotgun and a machine gun.

“A sawed-off shotgun, sold to our undercover agents by a drug dealer,” said Kelvin Crenshaw, a special agent in charge of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives Seattle field office, as he held up the firearm. “It represents one less potential tool of terror in the hands of criminals.”

The ATF led “Operation Kracken,” which began in June, with help from the Metro Gang Task Force and representatives from local police agencies, including the Vancouver Police Department’s Career Criminal Apprehension Team, the Clark County Sheriff’s Office and the Clark-Skamania Drug Task Force.

Many of the defendants will also face federal drug charges, officials said, though the focus of the investigation was to get firearms off the street and out of the hands of dangerous people. Among the drugs seized were cocaine, heroin, methamphetamine, marijuana, ecstasy and psilocybin.

All of the defendants were arrested within 36 hours.

The crackdown was spurred by conversations between area police chiefs about the increasing prevalence of illegal guns on area streets.

Undercover federal agents operating out of a storefront in Portland bought the firearms from the defendants. Crenshaw declined to provide details on how the sting was executed, saying that there are still “moving parts to this investigation.”

There were an additional 22 indictments resulting from the sting, although it was not immediately clear if the state and local indictments included more Clark County residents. In total, more than 30 people were arrested. A large number of the suspects were described as violent drug dealers, gang members and convicted felons.

About a dozen suspects are outstanding, officials said.

“We have got to stem the tide of gun and drug violence in our community,” said Dwight Holton, Oregon’s U.S. District Attorney. “This long-term undercover operation is a down payment — and we’ve got lots more work to do.”

Holton, who previously worked in Brooklyn, said only sometimes in that area, which features far more gun violence, were there seizures of this magnitude. He applauded law enforcement for combining resources to get a significant amount of weapons off the streets.

“We have too many kids dying,” Holton said. “Too many young people dying.”

Vancouver and Clark County law enforcement officials referred questions to the U.S. Attorney’s Office. Gresham Police Chief Craig Junginger, when asked about the arrests, said at the press conference that the defendants crossed between municipalities, even states.

“(With each arrest), we’ve taken someone off that circuitry that involves the entire Portland metro area,” Junginger said.

Charges against the Clark County defendants ranged from felon in possession of a firearm to distribution of methamphetamine.

Among those arrested were Vancouver residents Marya Bolton, 24; Joshua Hoover, 25; Dion McKinzy, 22; Mitchell Nunn, 27; Brooke Snyder, 20; Delayna Stanley, 21; Brandi Stephens, 25; and David Walters, 29, as well as Cole Gardipe, 19, and Colton Smith, 23, of Yacolt and Battle Ground, respectively. Some defendants face up to 40 years in prison.

“We intend to seek severe punishment,” Holton said.

Asked about the possibility the defendants would argue entrapment, Crenshaw said investigators’ methods were sound. “Nobody made you buy the guns from us. Let’s put our big boy pants on.”

Loading...