A Spokane man with a long record is headed back to federal prison for 15 years after authorities say he kept moving large amounts of fentanyl even while under court supervision.
According to federal prosecutors, the case kicked off when couriers dropped drugs at a Spokane Valley home. A later search of the residence turned up roughly half a kilogram of pressed fentanyl and a stack of evidence pointing to an active trafficking operation.
Sentence and plea
In a press release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Washington, First Assistant U.S. Attorney Pete Serrano said U.S. District Judge Thomas O. Rice sentenced 35-year-old Robert Joseph McNabb on May 20 to 180 months in federal prison, followed by 10 years of supervised release. McNabb had pleaded guilty to trafficking fentanyl while on federal supervision.
Prosecutors said the punishment reflects both the amount of fentanyl involved and McNabb’s prior criminal record.
What investigators found
According to court documents, investigators found messages on a courier’s cellphone that identified McNabb as the recipient of about a half-kilogram of fentanyl. The load had reportedly been exchanged for roughly $18,000, and surveillance tied the deliveries to a Spokane Valley residence…