Seattle –A 69-year-old resident of Rhode Island, and formerly of Texas, and Chicago, was sentenced Friday in U.S. District Court in Seattle for three federal felonies connected to his 2021 scheme to smuggle duffle bags full of drugs across the strait bordering Washington State and Canada via watercraft, announced First Assistant U.S. Attorney Charles Neil Floyd.
John Michael Sherwood was convicted in April 2026 following a six-day trial of Conspiracy to distribute controlled substances, possession of controlled substances with intent to distribute and conspiracy to commit international money laundering. At the sentencing hearing Judge Richard Jones said, “What you did came across as a mad man desperate for money, willing to do anything. At the end of the day what you were doing would cause tremendous harm to thousands of individuals.”
“The eight large duffel bags of methamphetamine found on the beach near Port Angeles are just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to this defendant’s drug smuggling,” said First Assistant U.S. Attorney Neil Floyd. “Evidence uncovered in the case show he made multiple drug runs to the Washington/British Columbia border to connect with his coconspirator in Canada. Over five decades he racked up five federal felonies. This 15-year sentence is the result of his persistent and entrenched criminal behavior.”…