A Burien man who acted as a major redistributor in a large-scale drug trafficking organization linked to Aryan prison gangs was sentenced Friday to more than 10 years in federal prison, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Washington announced.
Joseph Hempel, 46, was sentenced to 126 months in prison by Chief U.S. District Judge David G. Estudillo for conspiracy to distribute controlled substances and unlawful firearm possession.
Hempel was a top-level supplier working under Jesse James Bailey, a leader of one of three branches of the white supremacist Aryan Family/Omerta Drug Trafficking Organization operating across the South Sound and beyond.
“The quantities you were involved in distributing were unimaginable,” Judge Estudillo said at sentencing. “It’s pretty amazing the amount of drugs we’re talking about.”
The three interconnected drug trafficking rings in this case were identified over an 18-month wiretap investigation. The three distribution cells were working together as the Aryan Family/Omerta Drug Trafficking Organization, one of which was led by Hempel’s co-defendant Jesse Bailey. Bailey has pleaded guilty and is scheduled for sentencing on June 13.
“At various times on the wiretap law enforcement heard Mr. Hempel order as much as 25 pounds of methamphetamine and 20,000 fentanyl pills,” said Acting U.S. Attorney Miller. “Distributing such large loads of narcotics meant that both the reach and the damage from Mr. Hempel’s drug activity was widespread in our community.”
On March 22, 2023, law enforcement made two dozen arrests on federal charges. The coordinated takedown involved ten SWAT teams and more than 350 officers. On that day, law enforcement seized 177 firearms, more than ten kilos of methamphetamine, 11 kilos of fentanyl pills and more than a kilo of fentanyl powder, three kilos of heroin, and over $330,000 in cash from eighteen locations in Washington and Arizona. Earlier in the investigation, law enforcement seized 830,000 fentanyl pills, 5.5 pounds of fentanyl powder, 223 pounds of methamphetamine, 3.5 pounds of heroin, 5 pounds of cocaine, $388,000 in cash, and 48 firearms.
At the time of the takedown, Hempel’s Burien residence contained 1,003 fentanyl pills 1.6 kilograms of heroin, three kilograms of marijuana, 11 drug scales, a drug ledger, and $14,799 of drug proceeds. Near the drugs, law enforcement found body armor, ammunition, and the following firearms:
- 12-gauge Iver Johnson shotgun with an obliterated serial number
- Harrington Richardson Model 088 Rifle
- Halsan Escort Shotgun
- Marlin Firearms Glenfield 60 Rifle
Officials said that Hempel has prior convictions for car theft and possession of stolen property that make him ineligible to possess firearms.
In asking the court for the 126-month prison term prosecutors noted the impact such drug trafficking has on the community and community safety:
“Hempel ordered and distributed large quantities of methamphetamine, fentanyl, and heroin, for the purpose of redistributing it throughout the community. These drugs have a devastating impact. Users of these drugs frequently resort to stealing—from family members, friends, and complete strangers—to feed their addictions. No doubt, drug users are responsible for a large percentage of these crimes, as well as the violent crimes, in our communities,” prosecutors wrote to the court.
This case is part of an Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETF) investigation. OCDETF identifies, disrupts, and dismantles the highest-level drug traffickers, money launderers, gangs, and transnational criminal organizations that threaten the United States by using a prosecutor-led, intelligence-driven, multi-agency approach that leverages the strengths of federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies against criminal networks.
This investigation was led by the FBI with critical investigative teamwork from the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), the Washington State Department of Corrections and significant local assistance from the Tacoma Police Department, Pierce County Sheriff’s Office, and the Thurston County Narcotics Task Force, led by the Thurston County Sheriff’s Office. Throughout this investigation the following agencies assisted the primary investigators: Washington State Patrol, Customs and Border Protection Air and Marine, Lewis County Sheriff’s Office, Lakewood Police Department, and U.S. Postal Inspection Service (USPIS).
The case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Zach Dillon, Max Shiner, and Jehiel Baer.
