Pierce County Woman Sentenced to 84 Months in Prison for Role in Drug Ring Connected to Aryan Prison Gangs
Served as a High-Level Drug Redistributor While Armed with Multiple Firearms
TACOMA, Wash. – A high-level drug redistributor for a drug ring connected to Aryan prison gangs was sentenced to 84 months (24 months on count 1 consecutive to 60 months on count 2) in prison for drug and gun possession, announced Acting U.S. Attorney Teal Luthy Miller. C’La Morales, 39, of Pierce County, was arrested as part of an extensive drug trafficking investigation of three interrelated drug distribution organizations tied to Aryan prison gangs operating both inside and outside state prisons. Morales served as a key associated of the leader of one distribution ring, Jesse Bailey, who has pleaded guilty to conspiracy to distribute controlled substances, possession of a firearm in furtherance of drug trafficking, and conspiracy to commit money laundering. At the sentencing hearing U.S. District Court Judge David Estudillo said, “You took on the responsibility to distribute large quantities of controlled substances. You had to know those were going to … lead to addiction and wreak havoc for those individuals and their families, friends, and loved ones.”
According to records filed in the case, Morales was a trusted member of the drug ring who trafficked fentanyl, heroin, and methamphetamine and possessed multiple firearms. The wiretap evidence in the case revealed that she was purchasing and distributing 10 ounces of heroin and 10,000 fentanyl pills at a time. Morales was well aware of the significant fire power Jesse Bailey kept to protect his drug trafficking activities including fully automatic weapons.
When law enforcement searched Morales’ storage locker and vehicle, they seized 5,815 fentanyl laced pills that were fraudulently stamped with the imprint for prescription Oxycodone and 480 grams of heroin. Within arm’s reach of the drugs, agents located a loaded Mossberg shotgun, several boxes of 12-gauge shotgun ammunition, and $5,183 of drug trafficking proceeds. In Morales’ car they found additional guns: On the floorboard between the front driver’s seat and passenger seat, law enforcement found a lock box containing two pistols with loaded magazines.
In asking for a ten-year prison sentence, prosecutors wrote to the court with concern about Morales’ drug trafficking history. “Morales is not new to drug trafficking while armed with firearms. In 2019 she was arrested for drug trafficking while armed with a firearm that eventually resulted in convictions for unlawful possession of controlled substances with intent to distribute and unlawful possession of a firearm. Morales committed the current charges while on warrant status for the Pierce County drug court program. Thus, despite her clear drug addiction and need for treatment, it is difficult to trust that she will maintain compliance with treatment and not return to trafficking controlled substances.”
Morales was sentenced to five years of supervised release following prison. This prosecution is one of some two dozen related to a lengthy investigation of South Sound based drug trafficking rings.
On March 22, 2023, Law enforcement made two dozen arrests on federal charges. The coordinated takedown involved ten swat teams and more than 350 law enforcement officers. On that day law enforcement seized 177 firearms, more than ten kilos of methamphetamine, 11 kilos of fentanyl pills and more than a kilo of fentanyl powder, three kilos of heroin, and more than $330,000 in cash from eighteen locations in Washington and Arizona. Earlier in the investigation law enforcement seized 830,000 fentanyl pills, 5.5 pounds of fentanyl powder, 223 pounds of methamphetamine, 3.5 pounds of heroin, 5 pounds of cocaine, $388,000 in cash, and 48 firearms.
The top-level leader of the drug trafficking ring, Jesse Bailey, is scheduled to be sentenced on May 16, 2025, and his wife and co-conspirator Candace Bailey, is scheduled for sentencing on June 13, 2025.
This case is part of an Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETF) investigation. OCDETF identifies, disrupts, and dismantles the highest-level drug traffickers, money launderers, gangs, and transnational criminal organizations that threaten the United States by using a prosecutor-led, intelligence-driven, multi-agency approach that leverages the strengths of federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies against criminal networks.
This investigation was led by the FBI and the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) with critical investigative teamwork from Homeland Security Investigations (HSI), the Washington State Department of Corrections and significant local assistance from the Tacoma Police Department, Pierce County Sheriff’s Office, and the Thurston County Narcotics Task Force, led by the Thurston County Sheriff’s Office. Throughout this investigation the following agencies assisted the primary investigators: Washington State Patrol, Customs and Border Protection Air and Marine, Lewis County Sheriff’s Office, Lakewood Police Department, and U.S. Postal Inspection Service (USPIS).
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