A Mexican national who resided in Federal Way was sentenced to five years in federal prison for drug trafficking and illegally possessing a firearm.

According to the U.S. Department of Justice’s Western District of Washington, Jose Gerardo Rodriguez-Montoya, 30, a Mexican national, was sentenced to five years in prison for possession of controlled substances with intent to distribute and unlawfully possessing a firearm.

According to the department, authorities found three kilograms of fentanyl powder, three kilograms of heroin, various smaller amounts of methamphetamine and fentanyl pills, and a .45 pistol in Rodriguez-Montoya’s Federal Way apartment.

“These offenses are serious,” U.S. District Judge Jamal N. Whitehead told Rodriguez-Montoya at his sentencing. “You had large quantities of fentanyl and other drugs… Dealing in fentanyl is dealing in death.”

Court documents said Rodriguez-Montoya’s first encounter with police was in March and April 2023, when Rodriguez-Montoya sold fentanyl to a confidential informant during a controlled buy. Documents state that officers did not arrest Rodriguez-Montoya during that buy, but they took his license plate and started surveilling him at his Federal Way apartment.

The confidential informant made further contact with Rodriguez-Montoya and learned that he was out of drugs, but that he would be receiving a shipment from Arizona the following morning. According to the department, authorities were investigating a drug distribution ring that was bringing in drugs from Arizona.

According to documents, the next day, detectives watched Rodriguez-Montoya carry a large duffel bag from a vehicle with an Arizona license plate into his Federal Way apartment. On April 6, Rodriguez-Montoya was stopped in his vehicle at a fast-food restaurant and taken into custody, documents state.

During that stop, Rodriguez-Montoya had 244 grams of methamphetamine, 33 grams of fentanyl pills and nine grams of heroin. Rodriguez-Montoya promptly admitted to being a drug runner, and he told detectives that they would find more drugs and a firearm in his home. According to documents, because Rodriguez-Montoya was in the U.S. illegally, he was not permitted to carry a firearm.

According to documents, seven months later, Rodriguez was linked to a burglary and car theft and was arrested while coming out of a casino. During the arrest, he had a Taurus 380 tucked in his front right jacket pocket, which he was not supposed to have. It was later found that the firearm had been shipped and transported in interstate and foreign commerce, documents stated.

According to the justice department, Rodriguez-Montoya pleaded guilty to the charges in November 2024. In asking for a five-year sentence, prosecutors noted the effects fentanyl has had in the King County community and added how a fentanyl overdose had even touched Rodriguez-Montoya. The justice department reported that Rodriguez-Montoya’s father died from a fentanyl overdose in 2021 while living in Seattle.

“In 2023, the King County Medical Examiner’s office reported 1,085 confirmed overdose deaths related to fentanyl, 778 deaths in 2024, and 99 fentanyl-related deaths in King County so far this year,” prosecutors noted in their sentence recommendation. “Fentanyl is estimated to be fifty times stronger than heroin. Even a tiny amount of fentanyl can kill.”

Following his release, if he is in the U.S., Rodriguez-Montoya will have four years of supervised release. According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office Communications director Emily Langlie, Rodriguez-Montoya will likely be deported following his prison term, but it is never a sure thing. She said he could claim asylum, or he could obtain status through another avenue.

The justice department reported that this case was investigated by the Seattle Police Department, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and Homeland Security Investigations. Assistant United States Attorney Erika Evan is prosecuting the case.