Seattle Man Sentenced to Two Years for Selling Cocaine and Fentanyl in Homeless Encampments
The U.S. Attorney's Office for the Western District of Washington announced on November 5 that Sang Su, 46, of Seattle, was sentenced in U.S. District Court in Seattle to two years in prison for his role in a drug trafficking organization that sold cocaine and fentanyl in Seattle homeless encampments and in the Chinatown-International District. Acting U.S. Attorney Charles Neil Floyd made the announcement. Su has been in custody since his arrest in August 2025, and will be on three years of supervised release following prison.
At the sentencing hearing, U.S. District Judge Tana Lin said, "It is aggravating that you were selling significant amounts of cocaine and fentanyl to some of the most marginalized members of our community." Su pleaded guilty to conspiracy to distribute a controlled substance on July 2, 2026. In asking for a 30-month sentence, prosecutors noted that between 2002 and 2025 Su had multiple contacts with law enforcement, including arrests for assault, controlled substances violations and carrying loaded firearms; although those arrests were later dismissed or charges were never filed, the interventions failed to curtail his criminal acts.
According to records filed in the case, in 2023, after incidents of drug trafficking-related violence in and around homeless encampments in Seattle's Chinatown-International District and the greenbelt adjacent to Interstate 5, commonly known as the "Jungle," the FBI and the Seattle Police Department began a narcotics trafficking investigation. On May 29, 2025, law enforcement executed 16 search warrants in Federal Way, Vancouver, Everett, Pacific, Tukwila, Kent, Issaquah, Seattle, Woodlake, California, and Beaverton, Oregon, seizing more than seven kilograms of cocaine, 18 kilograms of methamphetamine, more than 57,000 fentanyl pills, 17 firearms and more than $353,000 in cash.
Su was not arrested during the May 2025 warrants and remained at large until his arrest on August 18, 2025. He had been heard on a wiretap discussing cocaine distribution and obtaining "samples" of fentanyl powder. In October 2024, Su was stopped by law enforcement just after making a drug purchase from the organization leader at a market on Beacon Hill in Seattle, and the drugs and a firearm were seized from his car.
"Our goal with the Homeland Security Task Force is to remove dangerous criminals from our community – especially in neighborhoods that have been disproportionately victimized like the Chinatown International District," said Acting U.S. Attorney Charles Neil Floyd. W. Mike Herrington, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI Seattle field office, said Su, as a redistributor, directly interacted with the group leader and possessed a loaded firearm to protect the trafficking proceeds. The investigation was led by the FBI, the Seattle Police Department and the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), with assistance from IRS Criminal Investigation, the High Intensity Drug Trafficking Areas program, Homeland Security Investigations and the Washington National Guard Counterdrug Program. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Casey Conzatti and Brian Wynne are prosecuting the case.
Source: U.S. Department of Justice
Published by GSM · USA (original Chinese edition)
Photo: 图：位于 Washington 的美国司法部大楼。GSM联邦机构固定图库照片，摄影 APK，CC BY 4.0，来源 Wikimedia Commons。 / Photo: U.S. Department of Justice headquarters in Washington. GSM federal fixed image library photo by APK, CC BY 4.0, via Wikimedia Commons.
