Two federal defendants prosecuted as part of Operation Oliver’s Twist were sentenced today to significant prison terms, announced U.S. Attorney Jenny A. Durkan. The men were arrested in 2012 following the successful law enforcement operation where members of the Seattle Police Department, ATF, and FBI operated a storefront purchasing drugs and stolen property, including firearms. The defendants sentenced today will serve their federal time in addition to state sentences.
“Every gun in the hands of a criminal presents a danger to the community. This operation took stolen firearms off the street and uncovered drug networks pumping oxycodone into our neighborhoods,” said U.S. Attorney Jenny A. Durkan. “I commend the good work of our state and federal law enforcement partners, as well as our counterparts in the King County Prosecutors Office who have held 34 defendants accountable.”
One of the defendants sentenced today, PATRICK KELLY ANKROM, 48, of Snohomish, Washington, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to distribute oxycodone and being a felon in possession of a firearm. U.S. District Judge Ricardo S. Martinez sentenced ANKROM to five years in prison and three years of supervised release. The federal sentence will be served consecutive to an additional 17-month sentence in Snohomish County. ANKROM sold oxycodone to undercover officers on multiple occasions in March and April 2011. On April 4, 2011, ANKROM sold officers three firearms that had been stolen in burglaries: a loaded Ruger .44 revolver, a Rock Island Armory .45 caliber semi-automatic pistol, and a GSG .22 caliber semi-automatic rifle. ANKROM was indicted February 29, 2012 and pleaded guilty July 27, 2012.
In the second case concluded today, U.S. District Judge Richard A. Jones sentenced SHAD BEACH, 38, of Seattle, to six years in prison and three years of supervised release for being a felon in possession of firearms. In April and May 2011, BEACH sold numerous stolen items, including vehicles and computers, to the undercover law enforcement officers who were operating the storefront. On May 2, 2011, BEACH sold the undercover officers numerous firearms he had stolen in burglaries. The firearms included a Rohm .22 caliber revolver, a Ruger .22 caliber rifle, a Remington .243 caliber rifle, a Mossberg 410-gauge shotgun, a Remington .22 caliber rifle, and a Winchester 12-gauge shotgun. BEACH was indicted on February 29, 2012 and pleaded guilty on November 19, 2012. BEACH has a number of criminal convictions that preclude him from possessing firearms, including burglary, methamphetamine possession, attempted assault, eluding police, possession of stolen property, trafficking in stolen property, unlawful possession of a firearm, and residential burglary and theft of a firearm.
“This investigation uncovered over 100 participants, but today we see two of the most brazen face justice for their actions,” said Special Agent in Charge Laura M. Laughlin of the FBI Seattle Field Office. “Mr. Ankrom and Mr. Beach did not just sell stolen weapons and contraband, but they did so again and again. Without the joint SPD, ATF, and FBI effort on an inventive undercover operation, high-powered firearms could have ended up in the hands of violent criminals.”
“This was one of the most elaborate undercover operations our department has conducted in over 33 years. Our detectives developed great cases on these two suspects and brought them to justice. Our communities can rest a little easier knowing these dangerous men, their illegal drugs, and illegally possessed guns have been removed from the streets of Seattle. This is just another example of the incredible work that the men and women of the Seattle Police Department perform each and every day,” said Chief John Diaz.
The cases were investigated by the Seattle Police Department, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF), and the FBI. Special Assistant United States Attorney Stephen Hobbs handled the sentencing hearings today.
