Ballard man sentenced to 30 months in prison for selling pot to school kids
Mar 10, 2014, 3:38 PM | Updated: 4:08 pm
A Ballard man will spend the next 30 months in prison after he was sentenced Monday for repeatedly selling marijuana to school kids.
Alejandro Antonio Castillo, 51, pleaded guilty in December 2013 to conspiracy to distribute marijuana, distribution of marijuana and possession with intent to distribute.
Authorities first learned Castillo was selling marijuana to middle and high school students from his home one block north of Ballard High School after a middle school parent notified police.
Undercover officers made a number of purchases, and surveillance revealed kids regularly going to his back door to buy pot and marijuana-laced pastries.
A federal complaint said in just one three-hour period on April 5, 2013, officers watched “approximately 18 teenagers appearing to, between the ages of 14 and 17, go to the Castillo residence, staying just minutes before departing.”
Seattle Police served a search warrant on April 24, 2013, and seized approximately 1,200 grams of suspected marijuana which included approximately 99 marijuana cigarettes, nine trays of suspected marijuana brownies, four shotguns, one rifle, six handguns, and $4,755 in U.S. Currency.
“As Washington moves forward with regulated marijuana, it is critical that we enforce the prohibition on sales to children and on those who use guns to protect their illegal activity,” said U.S. Attorney Jenny A. Durkan. “This defendant was selling to minors as young as 13 and had previously demonstrated his willingness to use guns to protect his drug business. The mix of drugs and guns is dangerous for the whole community, including kids who could show up at the door during a drug related robbery.”
Castillo defended his actions in court, saying he only sold the drugs because he was “behind on his bills,” and previously insisted he wouldn’t sell to anyone under 13.
But Judge James L. Robart questioned those claims at sentencing. “It is necessary that we get out the message: regardless of legalization, you do not sell drugs to minors,” Judge Robart said.
