A California man was sentenced in Tacoma on Thursday to 66 months in prison and four years of supervised release for dealing fentanyl and laundering drug money in Washington, as well as smuggling people across the U.S. and Mexico border.

U.S. Attorney Tessa M. Gorman announced Friday that 28-year-old Andre Jackson had been identified as a key distributor of narcotics in the Kitsap County and Pierce County areas. At the sentencing hearing, Chief U.S. District Judge David G. Estudillo said, “Drug dealing is of course dangerous” and when you engage in human smuggling, “you were making money off of vulnerable people.”

According to records filed in the case, Jackson was in contact with a Mexican-based source of supply named “Pacheco.” Working at Pacheco’s direction, Jackson coordinated the delivery of drugs from California to Washington before sending the drug proceeds back to Pacheco and his associates in Mexico.

At times, Jackson would deliver drugs in person from California to Washington. In one instance, Jackson completed a cross-state delivery of around 3,500 fentanyl pills to a person working with law enforcement at the Tacoma Mall. Later that day, he made a second smaller drug delivery to a codefendant at a grocery store parking lot in Bremerton.

The investigation also revealed Jackson wired drug proceeds from multiple Bremerton and Silverdale locations to people in Mexico. Throughout August, September, and October 2021, Jackson sent money to sources in Mexico from various locations across Kitsap and Pierce counties.

During the drug and money laundering investigation, officers discovered Jackson had also been smuggling non-citizens across the U.S. and Mexico border. Jackson used various social media channels to recruit drivers to smuggle non-citizens across the border or pick them up near the border and drive them north. A number of the recruited drivers were apprehended by law enforcement with the non-citizens in their cars.

Jackson was indicted and arrested in November 2022. In February 2024, he pleaded guilty to conspiracy to distribute controlled substances, conspiracy to commit money laundering, and conspiracy to transport certain non-citizens for profit.

Jason Baker (61-month sentence), Ashley Chico (18-month sentence), and John Irias-Mejia (18-month sentence) were also charged in this investigation.

In asking for a 6-year prison sentence, Assistant U.S. Attorney Stephen Hobbs wrote to the court, “Most basically, Jackson was involved in the distribution of significant quantities of fentanyl pills and likely other drugs. The Court is certainly aware of the dangers that controlled substances – particularly fentanyl – pose to those who use them. But Jackson was not just a street dealer or simple courier. He was in direct contact with the DTO leader in Mexico and played a knowing and significant role in transporting drugs from California to Washington, distributing the drugs in this state, and sending the proceeds back to Mexico.”