‘Mad man desperate for money’: Man gets 15 years in jet ski drug-smuggling scheme near WA-Canada border

A 69-year-old former resident of Rhode Island, Texas, and Chicago was sentenced to 15 years in prison Friday for three federal felonies connected to his 2021 scheme to smuggle duffle bags of drugs across the Strait bordering Washington and Canada, via a watercraft.

John Michael Sherwood was convicted in April 2026 after a six-day trial of conspiracy to distribute controlled substances, possession of controlled substances with intent to distribute, and conspiracy to commit international money laundering, the U.S. Department of Justice (DOJ) announced.

“What you did came across as a mad man desperate for money, willing to do anything,” Judge Richard A. Jones said at the sentencing hearing. “At the end of the day, what you were doing would cause tremendous harm to thousands of individuals.”

Sherwood hauled hundreds of pounds of drugs from California to WA

Testimony and evidence at the trial revealed that Sherwood brought roughly 300 pounds of methamphetamine and nearly one kilogram of fentanyl powder up to the Olympic Peninsula from southern California. Sherwood was attempting to use a jet ski and an inflatable raft to get the drugs across the Strait to his contact on the coast of Vancouver Island, though his attempt failed.

When describing Sherwood’s role, along with his co-conspirators in the drug trade, Assistant U.S. Attorney Vince Lombardi told the jurors, “They are the FedEx or the UPS of the drug trafficking crew.”

On April 7, 2021, a family on a beach near Port Angeles found a partially submerged duffle bag and alerted law enforcement to what they found. Law enforcement found more than 50 pounds of methamphetamine inside the bag, as well as two pounds of fentanyl powder.

“A family’s shocking discovery of drugs at the beach exemplified the brazenness of Mr. Sherwood’s multiple plans to smuggle huge quantities of drugs into Canada, part of a career of criminality spanning state lines, international borders, and several decades,” Mike Herrington, Special Agent in Charge of the FBI Seattle field office, stated. “He was involved in money laundering, perjury, and plotting against cooperating defendants in a series of attempts to cover up his crimes.”

More drugs soon surfaced along WA beach, under a nearby bridge

Around this time, another beachgoer discovered a partially submerged and deflated Zodiac-style raft on the beach, and noted that a U-Haul van was coming and going from the beach area. Days later, on April 11, 2021, a different beach walker reported finding seven more duffle bags stashed underneath a bridge near the beach. Those bags contained 252 pounds of methamphetamine. The estimated wholesale value of the drugs in Canada was roughly $1.5 million.

“The eight large duffle bags of methamphetamine found on the beach near Port Angeles are just the tip of the iceberg when it comes to this defendant’s drug smuggling,” First Assistant U.S. Attorney Neil Floyd stated. “Evidence uncovered in the case shows he made multiple drug runs to the Washington/British Columbia border to connect with his coconspirator in Canada. Over five decades, he racked up five federal felonies. This 15-year sentence is the result of his persistent and entrenched criminal behavior.”

The Federal Bureau of Investigation traced the duffle bags to Walmart and was able to pinpoint the sale. Sherwood used his debit card to purchase the bags and was caught on surveillance making the purchases. Additional evidence such as U-Haul rental records, motel registration, and storage locker records also linked Sherwood to the smuggling attempt.

Phone records revealed Sherwood’s communication with a co-conspirator in Canada about the attempt to smuggle the drugs into Canada via the Strait of Juan de Fuca.

The DOJ noted this is the second time a jury has convicted Sherwood for these crimes. After the first trial and conviction, the case team learned and disclosed alleged misconduct on the part of a government witness, and the matter was set for a new trial in front of a different judge.

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