(The Center Square) – Two men remain in custody in the Spokane County Jail after being charged in U.S. District Court with multiple felony counts related to the seizure of drugs, firearms, and two commercial pill presses, including one believed to be the first known commercial press associated with illegal fentanyl manufacturing in eastern Washington.
A federal grand jury recently indicted Timothy Gary Maddox, 43, on 10 federal charges while Nicholas Bryan Adams, 35, was indicted on seven counts. On Tuesday, Adams remained jail without bond on U.S. Marshal warrants that were served a few days before Christmas.
Separately, Maddox is also facing state felony charges that include four counts of first- and second-degree assault with a deadly weapon, two counts of unlawful possession of a firearm, and one count of drive-by shooting. Bail was previously set at $500,000 in that case.
It was not immediately specified if the two defendants had been formally arraigned and whether trial dates had been set.
“Our community is safer and stronger as a result of the investigative work of the numerous law enforcement agencies, who came together to investigate this case,” said Vanessa R. Waldref, U.S. Attorney for the Eastern District of Washington, in a press release Tuesday.
“Seizures of large-scale pill presses like this are key to cutting off the deadly supply of illegal fentanyl in the Inland Northwest and elsewhere,” said Waldref.
The arrests were announced in early December by the Spokane County Sheriff’s Office and Spokane Police Department after search warrants were served at four separate locations. They said the commercial-style press is believed to be able to produce 17,000 pills per hour; the smaller unit between 2,000 and 3,000 pills per hour.
Investigators also allegedly seized more than $57,000 in cash and quantities of fentanyl, methamphetamine, heroin, and cocaine. Also confiscated were 15 firearms, high-capacity magazines, suppressors, and switches to convert the firearms from semi-auto to fully automatic, according to the allegations.
Due to the large quantity of potentially dangerous substances that were located, the Washington Department of Ecology responded to assist in handling the materials, according to the sheriff’s office.
Initially, authorities said they seized over 4.5 pounds of a powder presumed to be fentanyl, then later confiscated three more kilogram-sized packages that tested presumptive positive for fentanyl. It was estimated that volume could produce over one million 3-milligam “high average dosage” pills.
“According to the DEA website, 2 milligrams – the amount on the tip of a pencil – can be enough to kill an average person,” the press release stated.
Authorities said Maddox and Adams were arrested in connection with a months-long drug investigation by Homeland Security Investigations and the Regional Street Crimes Unit comprised of the Spokane County Sheriff’s Office, Spokane Police Department, Spokane Valley Police Department, the Washington Department of Corrections, and federal Customs and Border Protection; Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives; and Drug Enforcement Administration.
The DEA has additional information – including information for parents, teens, caregivers, and teachers – on its webpage at https://www.dea.gov/onepill.
