A Kent man and his stepson were arrested Friday morning following their indictment on seven criminal counts related to gun sales and controlled substance distribution, according to a U.S. Attorney’s Office media release.
The indictment alleges that Mark E. Bryant, 49, and his stepson Andrew Gagley, 30, illegally distributed Demerol. Bryant is also charged in four different counts with distributing Oxycontin, hydrocodone, and morphine on three days last September and October. Bryant is also charged with selling a firearm to a drug user.
Gagley is separately charged with selling a firearm to a felon and illegal alien. Both men will appear Friday in U.S. District Court in Seattle.
Bryant owns Westside Guns and East Valley Auto Rebuild in the 8000 block of South 222nd Street in Kent. On multiple occasions Bryant allegedly sold guns or drugs to people working with law enforcement on the property of his Kent gun shop.
Gagley also participated in gun and drug sales in and near the business. On Oct. 26, Gagley allegedly sold a Colt .556 caliber, semi-automatic rifle to a person working with law enforcement. Gagley allegedly made the sale knowing that the person was prohibited from purchasing firearms because the buyer was in the U.S. illegally and was a convicted felon.
Just two days before, on Oct. 24, Bryant illegally sold a Firestar .45 pistol to a person he knew to be a drug user. As a Federal Firearms Licensee, Bryant is required to file paperwork on gun sales and to maintain acquisition records on all firearms received and transferred to other people.
The arrests are the culmination of an eight-month investigation by the South Sound Task Force, which is comprised of U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s (ICE) Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA), the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF), the Lakewood Police Department and the Washington State Liquor Control Board; with assistance from U.S. Customs and Border Protection’s Office of Air and Marine.
Each of the crimes charged are punishable by up to 20 years in prison and three years of supervised release.
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