Two brothers in their twenties, one a former worker at the Department of Energy’s Hanford Site in Washington state, were sentenced to 12 years in federal prison for their role in an uncle’s Mexico-based drug trafficking operation.
Eduardo Reyes-Santana, 26 of Kennewick, Wash., a commercial driver and union member who worked two years at the Hanford Site prior to his arrest, was sentenced for possession with intent to distribute 500 grams or more of methamphetamine, according to a Tuesday press release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office.
His brother, Carlos Reyes-Santana, 28, of Pasco, Wash., received the same sentence from U.S. District Judge Stanley Bastian, according to the release. Each will also serve 5 years on supervised release. The brothers pleaded guilty in July.
After being under FBI surveillance for months, the brothers were arrested in May 2021, according to the U.S. attorney’s office.
A search of the older brother’s home turned up about 52 pounds of methamphetamine, a pound of cocaine, roughly 50,000 pills laced with fentanyl, 3.5 kilograms of heroin and $420,000 in cash, according to the release. Agents found five firearms as well as thousands of rounds of ammunition at the younger brother’s home. A subsequent search of a Pasco storage unit turned up more drugs and roughly $70,000 in cash.
“These defendants were responsible for injecting a massive amount of fentanyl and other deadly drugs into our neighborhoods,” Vanessa Waldref, the U.S. Attorney for Eastern Washington, said in the release.
In the online sentencing document, the lawyer for Eduardo Reyes-Santana pleaded for leniency for the client, saying the younger brother was only 23 years old when arrested in the case. The attorney also said Eduardo started working while still a child and had been employed at the Hanford Site two years at the time of the arrest.
