DOJ: Marysville man who ran fentanyl pill mill from his garage sentenced to 15 years in prison

A Marysville, Washington, man was sentenced June 7, 2023 in U.S. District Court in Seattle to 15 years in prison for three federal felonies connected to the fentanyl pill manufacturing lab in his rental home, announced U.S. Attorney Nick Brown. 

Jose Eduardo Garnica, 34, pleaded guilty in March 2023 to conspiracy to manufacture and deliver controlled substances, possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime, and conspiracy to commit money laundering. 

At the sentencing hearing, U.S. District Judge Tana Lin said, “This is one of the largest fentanyl seizures in the district. Mr. Garnica had so much fentanyl a hazmat team had to be called in.”

“This case weaves together all the strands that make fentanyl trafficking such a dangerous business,” said U.S. Attorney Nick Brown. 

“Mr. Garnica was manufacturing fentanyl pills with deadly powders that could make each pill lethal. His activities contaminated the home he rented, and he had 27 guns – many of them high powered assault weapons – adding to the danger. This is a significant prison sentence, but appropriate due to the risk he posed to our community.”

According to records filed in the case, Garnica came to the attention of law enforcement on June 17, 2022, when U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP) officers in Los Angeles inspected a package shipped from China to Garnica’s Marysville address. 

The package was labeled “furniture parts,” but in fact it contained dies for use in a pill press that would make pills that appear to have the markings of oxycodone pills. 

Further investigation of Garnica and Wilson revealed numerous unusual cash transactions and the purchase of 11 firearms in a three-month span of 2020. 

In fact, when law enforcement searched the home, agents seized 27 guns and 25 kilos of fentanyl. Law enforcement also seized 50,000 rounds of ammunition.

On July 21, 2022, agents with Homeland Security Investigations and the FBI executed search warrants at the Marysville residence and seized the pill press and other materials for making fake oxycodone pills in the garage. 

Officers called a hazmat team to secure the lab due to the potentially deadly nature of fentanyl powder. Investigators determined that fentanyl residue had spread from the manufacturing location in the garage, throughout the house. The spread may have been caused by the HVAC system. Garnica has agreed to pay more than $71,000 to the owner of the home to remediate the residence.

In addition to the pill press and fentanyl powder, law enforcement found kilo sized bricks of fentanyl pills that appeared to have been smuggled into the U.S. from Mexico. 

Also of great concern, some of the pills Garnica was manufacturing also contained Xylazine – a sedative used in veterinary medicine that has been linked to more deaths. In some instances, those injected with Xylazine had had tissue damage requiring amputation.

In asking for an 18-year prison sentence, Assistant United States Attorney Vince Lombardi cited the unique danger of fentanyl and the heavy toll of fatal overdoses in King County. 

“…Fentanyl overdose deaths have continued to soar in the Seattle area. Overdose deaths attributable in whole or in part to fentanyl have risen from just 22 in 2016 to 709 in 2022. 

"As of May 26, more than 500 overdose deaths were attributable to fentanyl for 2023 to date – a pace that puts King County at more than 1,000 overdose deaths by year end.”

The case was investigated by Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) and the FBI with assistance from the Washington State Patrol, National Guard Civil Service Team, Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), Custom and Border Protection’s Air and Marine Operations, the Snohomish County Drug Task Force, and the Skagit County Drug Task Force.

The case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Vince Lombardi.