SEATTLE, WA (MyBellinghamNow.com) – A Tacoma man was sentenced in federal court on Thursday for his role in a drug ring that wounded the Lummi Nation.
U.S. Attorney Charles Floyd says 44-year-old Michael Young Jr. will spend seven years in prison after pleading guilty to drug dealing in July.
Young Jr. was a high-level member of a group that dealt more than 800,000 fentanyl pills in several states throughout the country, including Washington.
Court records state that teams led by the DEA arrested four people linked to the organization in Whatcom County.
My Bellingham Now previously reported that four tribal citizens with the Lummi Nation died of fentanyl overdoses within a four-day period in September 2023. The string of deaths caused the tribe to declare a state of emergency in response to the fentanyl crisis.
After investigating the phone of one of the overdose victims, authorities found connections to the drug ring that Young was a part of.
The Justice Department says federal and local authorities are continuing to work with Lummi Nation Police to track down more members of the organization.
