Former Kent resident sentenced to prison for selling narcotics near drug treatment center

Seattle – A 37-year-old former Kent, Washington, resident was sentenced today in U.S. District Court in Seattle to 30 months in prison and three years of supervised release for selling narcotics near a drug treatment center announced U.S. Attorney Tessa M. Gorman. Mohamed Aweys Muse has been in custody since his arrest in March 2023. At today’s sentencing hearing U.S. District Judge John H. Chun said, “Fentanyl is an extremely dangerous drug that has been ravaging our community… I am particularly concerned with the targeting of a methadone clinic.”

According to records filed in the case, Muse came to the attention of law enforcement in late 2022, when Muse was observed leaving an apartment in Kent each morning and making hand-to-hand drug sales in the area of Airport Way South and South Holgate Street in Seattle. Muse appeared to target the clients of a methadone clinic which was only a block away from where he was selling drugs.

In January, Muse started staying overnight at a Lynwood, Washington apartment.  On February 2, 2023, law enforcement served a court-authorized search warrant on both the Lynnwood and Kent apartments. In the Lynnwood apartment, investigators found fentanyl, cocaine, and three firearms. In the Kent apartment, law enforcement found additional cocaine.

In asking for the three-year sentence, prosecutors wrote to the court, “Muse regularly sold fentanyl in hand-to-hand transactions near a methadone clinic, targeting vulnerable individuals struggling to treat their addictions. This makes his drug trafficking particularly egregious and in reckless disregard for the safety of others.”

The case was investigated by the Drug Enforcement Administration in collaboration with the King County Sheriff’s Office and the FBI.

The case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Yunah Chung.