A 25-year-old Fife man was convicted of smuggling drugs into the Olympic Corrections Center at the close of a weeklong trial in Jefferson County Superior Court.

Luis Natanel Reyes showed little emotion as jurors were polled by Superior Court Judge Keith Harper on their verdict Dec. 22.

Each juror was asked if they personally agreed with the guilty verdict, and with the decision of the jury as a whole, on the three felony charges. Each juror said “yes.”

Reyes was found guilty of delivery of a controlled substance (heroin, methamphetamine, and Suboxone); second-degree introducing contraband; and conspiracy to deliver a controlled substance (heroin, methamphetamine, and Suboxone).

He will be sentenced on the three felony convictions on Jan. 13.

THIRD OF FOUR CHARGED

Reyes was one of four people charged in the drug-smuggling case.

Two of the four, Patricia Lemus Camacho and Fernando Andres Reyes, pleaded guilty to charges earlier.

The fourth, Dongelique R. Spillers, was previously charged with delivery of a controlled substance (heroin) and second-degree introducing contraband, and prosecutors expect the case will be resolved in January.

Fernando Reyes, 27, of Des Moines and Spillers, 30, of Bellevue, were arrested in December 2021 after authorities said they threw contraband over the fence to inmates at the Olympic Corrections Center.

Officials at the minimum security facility, located in Jefferson County south of the Hoh River, discovered the conspiracy to smuggle drugs into the center in January.

Corrections officers believed drugs had been secreted into the facility “when multiple incarcerated offenders appeared to be under the influence to an extent that staff thought it was possible they may need medical treatment,” according to court documents.

Investigators turned their attention to Luis Reyes after it was believed someone had been throwing drugs over the fence for him to retrieve.

Authorities began to monitor Reyes’ phone calls with his sister, as well as calls to his sister from other inmates, from Nov. 25 through
Dec. 6.

One of the drug deliveries was believed to have happened on the night after Thanksgiving 2021.

An investigator monitoring phone calls between Reyes and his sister also heard Reyes tell his sister to put “it” inside a tennis ball or other packaging that would match the ground where the drugs would be left. He also warned her to place “it” in a bag so “it” wouldn’t get wet.

Reyes also told her that “everything came out perfect last time,” according to court documents.

PHONE CALLS RECORDED

During one of the phone calls with his sister, “Reyes discusses her putting it in a bag so it is the same color as where it will be placed so that you can’t see it, exactly as last time, and to not talk too much about it, as well as wanting to do this two or three times.”

Reyes also told his sister “that he is fine for a few days but he would like a ‘little night-time and oranges’ so that he can keep sending money.”

According to the statement of probable cause for the pair’s arrest, narcotics officers said the terms “night,” “night-time,” and “dark” are often used to refer to heroin. He also mentioned needing chewing tobacco.

“Oranges” is prison slang for Suboxone sublingual strips, which are orange in color, investigators also noted.

Detectives said the smuggling scheme involved Reyes’ sister dropping the packages of drugs in the greenhouse area of the correctional facility, where an inmate who works in the garden would retrieve them and take them to Reyes and his bunkmate. (Lemus is listed as Reyes’ sister and an emergency contact for him in his Department of Corrections file.)

Investigators said Reyes called his sister again and Fernando Andres Reyes, believed to be the brother of Luis Reyes, said she had been “sluffing” and was sick, with love and relationship problems. Fernando Reyes then offered to make the delivery.

Detectives from the Olympic Peninsula Narcotics Enforcement Team, Washington Department of Corrections investigators, as well as a deputy from the Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office, started an overnight surveillance of the facility on the night of Thursday,
Dec. 9, 2021, when they believed another delivery of contraband was planned.

One never did, but early on the morning of Thursday,
Dec. 16, investigators learned that a Cadillac registered to the inmate’s sister had been found stuck in a ditch about a half mile away from the prison.

Spillers was found inside the vehicle, and said she had been driving to Ocean Shores with a man named “Andy” but had dropped him off at the driveway to the corrections facility so he could use the bathroom.

She also denied knowing her companion was there to drop off drugs, according to court documents.

Spillers also said she left Fernando Reyes by the sign to the prison, and he told her to turn around and come back after he went into the woods.

DRUGS FOUND INSIDE PRISON

Authorities took Fernando Reyes into custody, but said he would not speak to officers without an attorney present.

Prison staff conducted a search of the unit where Luis Reyes was housed and found a bag of items on the back of the toilet.

According to court documents, it appeared that someone had tried to flush the bag in the toilet but it was so big the toilet became clogged.

Inside the bag, officers found a quarter ounce of suspected heroin, a half ounce of suspected methamphetamine, 37 Suboxone strips,
36 pouches of chew, and a bag of chew.  

Prosecutors said Luis Reyes faces a potential sentence of five to
10 years, based on his criminal history.