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| State prisons worker accused of helping dealer pleads not guilty |
| By seattlepi.com - LEVI PULKKINEN |
| Published: 01/03/2012 |
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A former state prisons worker accused of providing “security” and intelligence to a heroin dealer with ties to the Aryan Nation has pleaded not guilty. At large when charges were filed late last month, ex-Department of Corrections employee Christian Knight pleaded not guilty to heroin dealing charges filed against him and 11 others allegedly involved in a Bellingham drug ring. Federal prosecutors in Seattle claim Knight passed “sensitive law enforcement information” to Todd Hamilton – a convicted felon now accused of running the methamphetamine and heroin ring. According to charging documents, several suspects were affiliated with an Aryan Nation-affiliated gang known as “The Hated” operating within state prisons. Hamilton, 34, is described both as a leader of The Hated and of “a busy drug- trafficking ring.” In court documents, a Drug Enforcement Administration special agent contended that others within the Department of Corrections continued to help former employee Christian Knight after he resigned. Hamilton, Knight and 10 others have been charged with drug offenses; no other Department of Corrections employees have been charged. Hired by the Department of Corrections in January 2002, Knight worked first as a corrections officer and then as a classification counselor tasked with determining what programs prisoners were placed in, department spokesman Chad Lewis said. Knight resigned on Oct. 2, Lewis said, after an internal investigation was launched that ultimately joined the Drug Enforcement Administration investigation into the purported drug ring. “A lot of the sting operation was based on intelligence that Department of Corrections investigators helped put together,” Lewis said. Knight pleaded not guilty on Friday, and has since been released on bond. Other defendants – including Hamilton and his girlfriend Denali Wood – have also pleaded not guilty. Federal prosecutors claim Hamilton and Wood, 23, sold and distributed hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of heroin and meth around Whatcom and Skagit counties. The multi-agency investigation was launched in March, a month before Bellingham police seized Hamilton’s BMW and $10,460 in the car. Police also seized small quantities of methamphetamine and heroin. Investigators conducted a series of undercover drug deals with Hamilton while also tapping his phones and conducting other surveillance. According to court papers, Hamilton was buying large quantities of heroin and meth from two King County men. Investigators contend the drugs were then distributed through Hamilton’s network of 10 to 20 others dealing in northwest Washington. Writing the court, the DEA agent said Hamilton and Wood led the operation. At times, the allegations go, they were buying tens of thousands of dollars worth of heroin and meth at a time. “This drug-trafficking organization damaged many lives with the heroin and methamphetamine they spread in our communities,” U.S. Attorney Jenny A. Durkan previously said in a statement. “This conspiracy thrived on threats and violence, and used a corrupted former corrections officer to try to avoid arrest.” In one two-week stretch, Hamilton is alleged to have bought 3 ½ pounds of heroin and 6 ½ pounds of methamphetamine. Investigators claim he paid his distributor more than $100,000 for that shipment. Investigators linked Hamilton to a Department of Corrections employee – Knight – who is alleged to have helped Hamilton in a variety of ways, including by passing along “sensitive law enforcement information.” Knight, the DEA special agent told the court, also helped deliver heroin. Read More. |
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