A citizen of Mexico who resided in Renton was sentenced to an additional five years on top of his original five-year sentence after he failed to report to federal prison and was stopped carrying 13 kilos of cocaine and a loaded handgun.
On July 30, the Department of Justice (DOJ) reported that Humberto Lopez-Rodriguez, 31, of Renton, but a citizen of Mexico, was sentenced to an additional five years in prison after he failed to report to federal prison. In December 2023, he was stopped in Lompoc, California, heading to Washington carrying 13 kilos of cocaine and a loaded hand gun. According to the DOJ, at the time of his arrest, Lopez-Rodriguez had been ordered to turn himself into a federal prison to serve a five-year sentence, but he had yet to do so.
According to court documents, Lopez-Rodriguez’s first five-year sentence was for conspiracy to distribute controlled substances and possession of firearms in furtherance of drug trafficking charges stemming from a Jan. 16, 2020, raid in Federal Way. According to documents, Lopez-Rodriguez was arrested inside a home in the 100 block of SW 305th Street in Federal Way that was used as a drug stash house.
Inside the Federal Way home, officers located over 10 pounds of suspected methamphetamine, seven kilos of suspected heroin and 11 firearms. Additionally, a second home in the 3200 block of Meadow Avenue North in Renton, where Lopez-Rodriguez’s brother resided, was raided the same day and officers recovered two firearms, about 500 grams of methamphetamine and about 72 grams of suspected cocaine.
According to the DOJ, at Lopez-Rodriguez’s sentencing hearing, U.S. District Judge Tana Lin said the sentence should run at the same time as his original five-year sentence, citing that he committed crimes after he was supposed to report to prison. The judge stated that Lopez-Rodriguez would be deported after serving his sentence, and the American dream would be dead for him. In agreement with Lin’s judgement was Acting U.S. Attorney Teal Luthy Miller.
“This defendant continued to deal drugs while on pretrial release and later was arrested in a car with a drug load when he should have been serving his federal sentence,” Miller said. “Such conduct — ignoring our laws and criminal justice system — appropriately results in additional prison time.”
According to the DOJ, Lopez-Rodriguez was charged in connection with a lengthy investigation of drug traffickers with ties to Mexico and Colombia. While Lopez-Rodriguez was already in prison in June 2024, the Drug Enforcement Administration, Seattle Police Department and IRS Criminal Investigation executed 24 search or arrest warrants.
According to the DOJ, over the course of the investigation, law enforcement seized 84,000 fentanyl pills, 32 kilograms of cocaine, 15 kilograms of methamphetamine, nearly three kilograms of heroin, more than a kilogram of fentanyl powder, 18 firearms and $71,000 in drug proceeds.
Five of the 16 defendants charged in this drug trafficking investigation have now pleaded guilty, according to the DOJ. Ramon Duarte Garcia, 38, a citizen of Mexico residing in Kent was sentenced in May 2025, to 10 years in prison; Curtis McDaniel, 56, a U.S. citizen residing in Tukwila, was sentenced to five years in prison; and Manuel Garcia Hernandez, 39, a citizen of Mexico, residing in Renton has pleaded guilty and is scheduled for sentencing on Sept. 9, 2025.
According to the DOJ, in asking that Lopez-Rodriguez receive a six-year sentence, they cited recent fatal overdose numbers from the area.
“Indeed, drug overdoses resulted in 1,044 deaths in King County in 2024. Through not quite seven months of 2025, there have been 541 confirmed overdose deaths, with another 47 suspected overdose deaths,” prosecutors said. “Though fentanyl gets the lion’s share of attention with respect to overdose deaths — and rightly so — cocaine was the third most common drug involved in overdose deaths in King County in 2024. Specifically, cocaine was involved in 26% of overdose deaths — often in combination with fentanyl.”
According to the DOJ, this case is part of Operation Take Back America, a nationwide initiative that utilizes the full resources of the DOJ to stop illegal immigration, eliminate cartels and transnational criminal organizations, and protect communities from violent crime. According to the DOJ, the Renton Police Department and Valley SWAT assisted in this investigation.
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Firearms found inside the Federal Way stash house. From court documents.
