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Date: 01-11-2024
Case Style:
Case Number: 2:23-cr-00028
Judge: James L. Robart
Court: The United States Court for the Western District of Washington (King County)
Plaintiff's Attorney: The United States Attorney’s Office in Seattle
Defendant's Attorney:
Description:
A Seattle man arrested in a car that had been stolen from a Children’s Hospital garage, was sentenced on Tuesday January 9, 2024, to eight years in prison, announced Acting U.S. Attorney Tessa M. Gorman. Timothy Robert Laucks, 42, pleaded guilty on September 26, 2023, to possession of controlled substances with intent to distribute and possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime. U.S. District Judge James L. Robart imposed three years of supervised release to follow the prison term.
According to records filed in the case, Laucks was spotted driving a car that had been stolen at the Childrens’ Hospital parking garage, while the owner was inside with a sick child. The car was taken on October 30th and just days later, on November 4, 2022, Seattle Police spotted the car in the Ballard neighborhood. Officers observed the car for a few hours while the driver, Laucks, drove to various homeless encampments in the Seattle area. At these locations, officers observed Laucks carrying a pizza box and trafficking narcotics to members of the homeless encampments.
Officers followed Laucks, who drove to a downtown grocery store parking lot. When officers pulled their marked patrol car pulled in front of the stolen car, Laucks hit the accelerator crashing into the patrol car. He attempted to flee on foot but was caught within moments.
While running, Laucks attempted to toss his jacket and backpack. Those were recovered by officers. In the jacket was a .40 semi-automatic pistol that had been reported stolen in Redmond, Washington. In the backpack were multiple narcotics packaged for distribution, including zanax, fentanyl pills, powder, cocaine, meth, and heroin. Laucks had a second handgun and more than $8,000 cash on him when arrested.
Laucks claimed he had purchased the car from someone else and didn’t realize it had been stolen from a family with a sick child, until he saw some medical paperwork in the car. He told officers he had intended to return the car and the paperwork but “got busy making drops,” or drug sales.
Laucks was indicted by the grand jury on March 1st, 2023.
Laucks has multiple prior convictions which prohibit him from possessing firearms, including felony convictions in Whatcom and Skagit Counties. In asking for a nine-year prison sentence, Assistant United States Attorney Cecelia Gregson wrote to the court, “As a prohibited person, the defendant was precluded from possessing any firearms, let alone using them to traffic drugs. Seattle Police officers observed the defendant peddling drugs thinly disguised in a pizza box to various homeless communities in the city. The defendant’s prior encounters with the criminal system have failed to deter or dissuade him from selling drugs and carrying firearms.”
The case was investigated by the Seattle Police Department. The case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Cecelia Gregson.
Outcome:
Plaintiff's Experts:
Defendant's Experts:
Comments: