Gang member sentenced for repeated drug trafficking at Bellingham homeless encampment

Davon Malbrough, a 40-year-old man from Renton, was sentenced to four years in federal prison for trafficking fentanyl and methamphetamine at a homeless encampment in Bellingham.

Prosecutors on the case sought a longer sentence because Malbrough had already served over 12 years in prison for a first-degree assault. Less than a year after his supervised release in 2022, he was reportedly selling fentanyl and trafficking women for profit.

“The rapid recidivism shows a heightened risk to community safety,” prosecutors said in the sentencing memorandum.

Prosecutors originally requested Malbrough to serve just over five years in prison, but Malbrough was sentenced to four years.

Background details

Prior to Malbrough’s most recent sentencing, he sold fentanyl powder and pills three times to a law enforcement informant, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Washington.

Malbrough pleaded guilty in June to possession of controlled substances with intent to distribute. The court formally sentenced him on Oct. 26 in the U.S. District Court in Seattle.

“This is a very serious offense,” U.S. District Judge Kymberly Evanson said. “The defendant distributed highly addictive drugs to highly addicted people.”

Gang affiliation

Through the investigation, Malbrough was also identified as a member of a gang known as “Family Mafia Crips,” investigators reported. The gang is known to be involved in drug trafficking, sex trafficking, firearms offenses, and violent crime.

The Drug Enforcement Administration and Homeland Security Investigations investigated the case.

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