Two Everett residents have been charged in federal court for drug distribution activities involving over seven kilograms of fentanyl powder. Acting U.S. Attorney Teal Luthy Miller announced that Santana Sandoval, 21, appeared today in U.S. District Court in Seattle on a criminal complaint charging him with possession of a controlled substance with intent to distribute.
Sandoval's co-defendant, Kevin Torres Velasquez, 45, was arrested on April 11, 2025, and has been detained at the Federal Detention Center at SeaTac since then. Sandoval was apprehended in the Western District of Virginia on April 24, 2025, and transferred to the Western District of Washington where he remains detained.
The criminal complaint states that law enforcement identified Sandoval as a distributor of fentanyl in King and Snohomish Counties earlier this year. Authorities collaborated with a confidential source to purchase fentanyl from him.
On January 24, 2025, agents from the Seattle Police Department, Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), and Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) executed a search warrant at an Everett apartment linked to Sandoval. They discovered more than seven kilograms of fentanyl powder along with cocaine, methamphetamine, scales, and over $12,000 in cash.
Both men were initially arrested on state charges but released from Snohomish County Jail before being located again for federal arrest weeks later.
"The charges contained in the criminal complaint are only allegations," stated Acting U.S. Attorney Teal Luthy Miller. "A person is presumed innocent unless and until he or she is proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law."
The investigation is being conducted by the Seattle Police Department along with DEA and HSI officials. Assistant United States Attorney Cecelia Gregson is prosecuting the case.
