Members of an Aryan prison gang from Washington and Arizona have been sentenced to prison for their involvement in drug trafficking and gun-related crimes, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) announced.
Ronaldo McComb, 59, from Ridgefield, Washington, received a 13-year prison sentence, while Isaac Cervantes, 32, from Phoenix, Arizona, was sentenced to 9 years.
During the sentencing, Chief U.S. District Judge David G. Estudillo highlighted the seriousness of the crimes, stating, “We are talking about massive quantities of controlled substances. This is not a street-level dealer. The amount of societal harm from these substances is almost immeasurable.”
Judge Estudillo also pointed out the dangerous firearms used in the case, saying, “These are not small-time firearms. They are used to protect the drug trade, and people suffer from the violence involved in this.”
McComb had pleaded guilty in June 2024 to conspiracy to distribute controlled substances and being a felon in possession of a firearm.
He admitted to discussing drug trafficking operations over the phone, including distributing several pounds of methamphetamine and tens of thousands of fentanyl pills. McComb also set up a network to distribute fentanyl pills as far as Alaska.
In addition, McComb acknowledged that large quantities of heroin and a 9mm handgun were found in his car trunk during a February 2022 traffic stop.
Authorities later arrested him in March 2023, discovering more drugs, guns, and cash at his Kalama residence. This included meth, heroin, three firearms, gold bars, and large amounts of money.
As part of his guilty plea, McComb agreed to forfeit the cash and gold as profits from his drug trafficking operations. His criminal record, which includes prior felony convictions for assault and robbery, prohibited him from owning guns.
Cervantes, arrested in Phoenix during the drug bust, admitted to transporting fentanyl, meth, and other drugs from Arizona to Washington. He also worked in a stash house, where powdered fentanyl was pressed into pills.
Cervantes’ involvement became clearer after a traffic stop on July 1, 2021, in Oregon. He was found with 50,000 counterfeit M30 Oxycodone pills in a vehicle owned by one of the drug operation’s leaders.
Later, in November and December 2022, Cervantes was linked to the Washington stash house, where law enforcement seized 64 kilograms of fentanyl pills—equivalent to 640,000 pills—along with more than 15 kilograms of methamphetamine and a kilogram of powdered fentanyl.
In addition to the drugs, law enforcement seized 23 guns, a silencer, two pill presses, and over $81,000 in cash from the stash house. Cervantes pleaded guilty to conspiracy to distribute controlled substances in February 2024.
Prosecutors emphasized the deadly effects of fentanyl-laced pills, noting that many first-time users are unaware that the counterfeit Oxycodone pills they consume contain fentanyl, putting their lives at risk.
This has fueled an unprecedented epidemic of overdose deaths in the U.S., with Washington state seeing a rise in overdose deaths by over 27% in the year ending December 2023, according to the National Center for Health Statistics.
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The drug trafficking investigation led to the seizure of 245 pounds of methamphetamine, more than 830,000 fentanyl pills, an additional 26 pounds of fentanyl pills and powder, over six pounds of heroin, 225 firearms, and more than $668,000 in cash.