Homeland Security Task Force Investigation leads to ten-year sentence for drug trafficking leader and supplier who possessed multiple firearms

Seattle -A 39-year-old Newcastle, Washington man was sentenced today in U.S. District Court in Seattle to ten years in prison for his leadership role as a supplier and distributor of methamphetamine, heroin, cocaine, and fentanyl in Seattle's homeless encampments and International District, announced Acting U.S. Attorney Charles Neil Floyd. Tommy Pham sold fentanyl pills, methamphetamine, heroin, and cocaine directly and to distributors who then sold drugs to people residing in "The Jungle" a homeless encampment under I-5 near Seattle's International District. At today's sentencing hearing Judge Tana Lin noted Pham's drug use saying, "You weren't only playing with your own life but with the lives of thousands of people for the drugs you were pumping into our community... Think of the impact not only on your family but all the other families impacted by addiction…. The combo of drugs and guns significantly increases the risk of harm."

"This is not Mr. Pham's first federal drug conviction and prison sentence," said Acting U.S. Attorney Neil Floyd. "A three-year federal prison sentence did not deter his drug dealing or his illegal possession of high-powered firearms to protect his drug business. He continued to prey on those in the International District and surrounding areas, which is a focus for this office. This repeat offender needs to spend a long time in federal prison to protect the community."

"Having still not learned his lesson, Mr. Pham is once again facing a federal sentence for armed drug trafficking," said W. Mike Herrington, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI Seattle field office. "As a leader and supplier for this organization, Pham worked with many of the other conspirators, selling them the dangerous drugs that plagued vulnerable communities in Seattle. FBI Seattle and our partners will continue to pursue drug traffickers to hold them accountable for the violence, addiction, and suffering they bring to our neighborhoods."

"Mr. Pham was fueled by greed, putting profit ahead of human life as the source of supply funneling fentanyl and other illicit drugs into Seattle's Chinatown International District and 'The Jungle,'" said Robert A. Saccone, Special Agent in Charge, DEA Seattle Field Division. "The defendant knowingly targeted some of Seattle's most vulnerable, those experiencing homelessness, already struggling to survive. Through Fentanyl Free America and with the support of our federal, state, and local partners, DEA is disrupting the fentanyl supply chain, reducing the availability of these deadly drugs, and saving American lives."

According to records filed in the case, the investigation began in November 2023, with the Seattle Police, FBI, and DEA focusing on a drug trafficking organization dealing fentanyl, methamphetamine, cocaine, and heroin in the homeless encampments of Seattle and in drug trafficking areas of the International District at locations such as 12^th and Jackson. Some of the defendants, including Pham, were arrested with firearms. Using a court authorized wiretap, investigators gathered evidence of the drug trafficking and made arrests and

seizures over the course of the investigation. Law enforcement heard intimations of violence on the calls and worked to intervene without tipping off the targets of the investigation. In December 2024, just before the arrest operation of the drug organization, Pham was found slumped in his car with a loaded 9mm Glock 19 with 15 rounds of ammunition, eight grams of methamphetamine, and $1,322 in cash.

During the arrest operation in January 2025, law enforcement seized 17 firearms and various quantities of controlled substances. Five of the firearms were seized from Pham's residence and vehicle. His home also contained small amounts of methamphetamine, heroin, and cocaine. Pham was arrested at a nearby casino with methamphetamine, marijuana and one firearm.

Pham pleaded guilty in February 2026.

In asking for a 157-month sentence prosecutors wrote to the court, "Pham was the leader of a DTO that was distributing to some of the most marginalized communities. He worked with both charged and uncharged co-conspirators to distribute controlled substances, including fentanyl, methamphetamine, heroin, and cocaine. His role as a leader and a source of supply of these deadly and addictive substances, while possessing multiple firearms, demands a considerable sentence… Not only are these substances potentially deadly to

users based on consumption, because traffickers operate entirely outside the law and because trafficking in the substance is so financially lucrative, violence is attendant to controlled substance trafficking. Not coincidentally, each time Pham was encountered by law enforcement he was consistently found with loaded firearms."

Judge Lin ordered Pham to serve five years of supervised release following prison.

Pham is the fifth and final defendant to be sentenced in the case. Khampheth Keodara, 43, of Seattle was sentenced in April 2026 to 75 months in prison. Theodore Nation, 36, of Seattle was sentenced in February 2026 to 30 months in prison. Donfeuy Saephan, 55, of Seattle, was sentenced in July 2026 to 120 months in prison. Sang Tran, 55, of Kent, Washington, was sentenced in July to 66 months in prison.

The investigation was led by the FBI, Seattle Police Department and Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) with significant assistance from the Internal Revenue Service - Criminal Investigation (IRS-CI). Investigators also worked with the King County Sheriff's Office and the Tukwila Police Department.

The case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Casey Conzatti and Brian Wynne.

This investigation is part of the Homeland Security Task Force (HSTF) initiative established by Executive Order 14159, Protecting the American People Against Invasion. The HSTF is a whole-of-government partnership dedicated to eliminating criminal cartels, foreign gangs, transnational criminal organizations, and human smuggling and trafficking rings operating in the United States and abroad. Through historic interagency collaboration, the HSTF directs the full might of United States law enforcement towards identifying, investigating, and prosecuting the full spectrum of crimes committed by these organizations, which have long fueled violence and instability within our borders. In performing this work, the HSTF places special emphasis on investigating and prosecuting those engaged in child trafficking or other crimes involving children. The HSTF further utilizes all available tools to prosecute and remove the most violent criminal aliens from the United States. HSTF Seattle comprises agents and officers from Homeland Security Investigations, the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF), The United States Marshals Service (USMS), the U.S. Postal Inspection Service (USPIS), the Internal Revenue Service-Criminal Investigations (IRS-CI), the United States Secret Service (USSS), U.S. Customs and Border Protection, and the U.S. Coast Guard Investigative Service, with the prosecution being led by the United States Attorney's Office for the Western District of Washington.