By Sharyn L. Decker
Lewis County Sirens news reporter
CHEHALIS – A judge set bail at $500,000 yesterday for the Centralia man suspected of trafficking a large amount of methamphetamine.
About five pounds of meth, a scale, a ledger, 10 cell phones and cutting agent to be co-mingled with the drug were found when officers searched the home of Miguel Perez-Espinoza and during their followup investigation on Tuesday, according to court documents. More than $12,000 cash turned up as well.
Miguel Perez-Espinoza
Perez-Espinoza was a primary suspect from a case four years ago when local and federal law enforcement officers discovered more than 12 pounds of meth during a search warrant execution on 100 block of Elma Drive in Centralia, but he disappeared, according to the Centralia Police Department.
The U.S. Marshals Service has a no-bail hold on Perez-Espinoza because that case is pending in U.S. District Court, Lewis County Deputy Prosecutor Paul Masiello said.
Masiello said even though Lewis County Superior Court Judge Richard Brosey set the bail high, he wasn’t certain if federal agents might not take custody of the defendant and consider folding the local case into their federal case.
Perez-Espinoza has no felony criminal history.
In court yesterday afternoon, he told the judge he spoke only a little English, so a Spanish language translator was used.
Defense attorney Joely O’Rourke said her client was working before, but not currently, so he qualified for a court-appointed attorney.
Perez-Espinoza was charged with one count of possession of a controlled substance with intent to deliver, an offense with a maximum penalty of 10 years in prison, but a standard sentencing range of 12 to 24 months under state law, according to O’Rourke.
Prosecutors added so-called enhancements to the charges that the alleged crime took place within 1,000 feet of a school bus stop, involved a substantial amount of drugs and with a firearm being present. However Masiello said after the brief hearing there was no gun in the current case.
He’d mistakenly added that language, he said, but the information was about a firearm involved in the 2010 case.
According to charging documents, police found approximately a half pound of meth and the other items at the home where Perez-Espinoza lives on 200 block of West Second Street.
Officers learned he was storing more meth at another Centralia residence, and after contacting the occupant there, discovered the other four and half pounds, charging documents state.
Police seized three passenger vehicles as well.
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For background, read “Centralia’s drug team scores big; mass meth, cash” from Tuesday October 14, 2014, here
Tags: By Sharyn L. Decker, news reporter
Thats what the federal warrant is for. It was issued when he fled to ensure he will get his due process
so, when he skipped the country the first time, did everything he did go away? or can they go after him for the incident from before?
Bring out the big hammer.
Let the IRS figure out how he’s been living on “no money”, then go after back taxes.
Isn’t it sad how a man with 5 pounds of meth, enough to get everyone in Centralia high twice, would only get up to 24 months in Washington? Go feds go. Lock this oxygen abuser down for 10-20 years