A federal judge in Tacoma sentenced 40-year-old Everett resident Levi Frank Graham to 10 and a half years in prison Friday for conspiring to distribute methamphetamine and fentanyl as part of a cartel-connected trafficking organization that investigators tracked for years using wiretaps and undercover buys. Prosecutors described Graham as a local redistributor who kept ordering drugs from suppliers even after he was arrested with drugs and cash in his possession.
Federal prosecutors said Graham repeatedly tried to obtain fentanyl powder and was recorded on wiretaps ordering pounds of methamphetamine and thousands of fentanyl pills, according to KOMO. Investigators intercepted calls and texts in June 2024 showing Graham ordering drugs directly from Rosario Abel “Joaquin” Camargo Banuelos and Francisco “Fernando” Camargo Banuelos, brothers from Sinaloa, Mexico, who authorities say arranged for kilograms of methamphetamine and fentanyl to be moved into the Pacific Northwest using semi-trucks traveling north on Interstate 5.
Local police arrested Graham in September 2024 with drugs and cash from drug sales, but that did not stop him. Prosecutors said Graham continued communicating with the trafficking organization after that arrest and even obtained another firearm and body armor. He was arrested again in September 2025 with drugs and a gun at an Everett hotel.
A Tacoma-Based Network With Reach Beyond Washington
The Tacoma-based operation distributed large quantities of methamphetamine, fentanyl, heroin and cocaine across Western Washington and beyond, with ties extending into Nevada, Oregon and California, per the KOMO report. According to the U.S. Department of Justice, commercial truck driver Isabel Villarreal Zapien transported bulk narcotics in semi-trucks from Mexico through California into Washington before her initial state arrest in January 2024, a method prosecutors say helped the ring move large shipments while avoiding detection along I-5…