Man who used ‘compound’ at Bellingham homeless encampment to sell drugs pleads guilty

A twice-convicted drug trafficker pleaded guilty in federal court earlier this week to distributing narcotics from a “fortified compound” he maintained in a Bellingham homeless encampment.

Rigoberto Vasquez-Martinez, 32, pleaded guilty Wednesday, March 13 in the Western District of Washington in U.S. District Court to possession of a controlled substance with intent to distribute, possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime, and attempted possession with intent to distribute a controlled substance.

Vasquez-Martinez, a Mexican citizen, pleaded guilty as charged, according to federal court records. His sentencing is scheduled for May 28.

Both the prosecuting and defense attorneys are expected to recommend Vasquez-Martinez spend 10 years in federal prison. The judge is not required to follow that recommendation and can sentence Vasquez-Martinez up to the maximum amount of time allowed under the law, the documents state.

He may also face consequences due to his immigration status, the court records state.

Vasquez-Martinez has been in federal custody since his Aug. 29, 2023 arrest near Brownsville, Oregon, following a routine traffic stop, according to a press release from the United States Department of Justice. He will remain detained until his sentencing.

Drug distribution network

According to a plea agreement filed in federal court, Vasquez-Martinez, who was sometimes referred to as “Carlos,” was an upper-level drug source within a homeless encampment near Walmart in Bellingham.

Vasquez-Martinez would get his supply of drugs, which included fentanyl, heroin and methamphetamine, from Oregon and California, and would then bring it back to Whatcom County to be sold.

“As part of his drug trafficking activities, Vasquez-Martinez established a fortified compound within the Walmart encampment and utilized armed guards to act as security around the main structure where Vasquez-Martinez stayed,” the court documents state.

In late August 2023, Oregon State Police conducted a routine traffic stop near Brownsville, Oregon. Vasquez-Martinez failed to provide a valid driver’s license, and later consented to a search of his vehicle.

In the vehicle, troopers found approximately 7.5 kilograms — or 65,000 pills — containing fentanyl. Multiple cell phones, $3,000 in cash and an empty handgun holster were also found in the vehicle.

This was enough fentanyl to kill the entire population of Bellingham, according to a previous press release from the Whatcom County Sheriff’s Office following Vasquez-Martinez’s arrest.

At the time of his arrest, Vasquez-Martinez was already under investigation by the Whatcom County Sheriff’s Office Gang and Drug Task Force, which had been investigating a drug distribution network that was operating out of the homeless encampment, The Bellingham Herald previously reported.

On the same day he was arrested, law enforcement also executed a search warrant on a storage unit Vasquez-Martinez had in Lynnwood, north of Seattle, that he used to store the drugs. In the unit, which was rented under Vasquez-Martinez’s wife’s name, law enforcement officers found roughly three kilograms of fentanyl powder, 5,000 fentanyl-laced pills, 300 grams of methamphetamine and 1.9 kilograms of heroin.

A loaded 9mm Taurus handgun and $46,000 in cash were also found in the storage unit, according to federal court records.

Two days later, on Aug. 31, 2023, law enforcement searched the “compound” Vasquez-Martinez had in the homeless encampment in Bellingham and found roughly $4,460 in cash, an AR-15 semi-automatic rifle, and a modified “sawed-off” shotgun.

Thirteen dogs, 11 of which were puppies, were also rescued from the compound, the sheriff’s office previously stated.

The City of Bellingham filed a civil lawsuit Feb. 23 in Whatcom County Superior Court against the property owner of the land behind Walmart, where hundreds of unhoused people are living in an encampment, and where Vasquez-Martinez maintained his “compound”.

The city previously began taking steps to declare the property a nuisance in November 2022, and alleges that conditions at the encampment have deteriorated over the past several years. The city’s lawsuit claims at least three unhoused people have died from opioid overdoses at the encampment since 2022, The Herald previously reported.

Nearby businesses have complained for months at City Council meetings about the encampment, while nearby residents have expressed concerns about theft and safety.

But unhoused encampment residents and homeless advocates have protested the impending clearing of the Walmart encampment and the city’s policy of clearing encampments without providing a safe alternative place for the unhoused to go, according to prior reporting in The Herald.

Previous convictions

Vasquez-Martinez has two previous convictions for drug trafficking; one in Whatcom County Superior Court and another in federal court, state and federal records show.

Vasquez-Martinez was arrested in early June 2012 by the Lummi Nation Police Department following a search warrant the agency conducted at a property in the 3100 block of Smokehouse Road. Lummi police had used a confidential informant to conduct controlled buys of heroin from Vasquez-Martinez throughout the month of February 2012.

In total, Vasquez-Martinez had sold a little more than 181 grams of heroin to the confidential informant.

He was convicted of unlawful possession of a controlled substance (heroin) in county court in late June 2012. Vasquez-Martinez was then deported to Mexico on Aug. 1, 2012, according to federal court documents.

Vasquez-Martinez had been in the U.S. since he was roughly 15 years old. He had moved with his mother and siblings to join his father, who had moved to the U.S. roughly five years prior in search of work and better wages. Prior to his father moving, Vasquez-Martinez and his family had been living in Oaxaca in a home built of cardboard that had no running water or electricity.

When Vasquez-Martinez was in the 11th grade, his father was deported following a domestic violence-related conviction. Vasquez-Martinez’s mother also went back to Mexico, while Vasquez-Martinez stayed in the U.S., dropped out of school and found work to support himself, according to a sentencing memo filed in federal court by Vasquez-Martinez’s then-defense attorney.

Vasquez-Martinez found employment as a painter, but was introduced to heroin in 2011 by friends from work. He became addicted and began selling drugs to support his daily use, which led to his conviction and subsequent deportation in 2012, the court records state.

Vasquez-Martinez returned to the United States in 2014 to again seek employment due to the “extremely low wages” that were being paid in Mexico at the time, which made it difficult for him to support himself, his girlfriend and their two children. During the two years he spent in Mexico, Vasquez-Martinez was able to stay sober, according to federal court records.

When he returned to the U.S., Vasquez-Martinez initially worked as a painter in Auburn, but soon relapsed with heroin.

He was arrested again on Jan. 4, 2016 and charged in federal court with five counts of distribution of heroin, which stemmed from the same incidents that led to his conviction in county court, the federal court documents state.

He pleaded guilty and was convicted of one count of distribution of heroin. The other four charges were dismissed as part of a plea agreement, federal court records show.

“Mr. Vasquez-Martinez was not a sophisticated or large-scale drug trafficker earning significant profits, but rather a simple addict who sold drugs to other users so that he could feed his own drug habit,” Vasquez-Martinez’s then-defense attorney wrote in the sentencing memo.

Vasquez-Martinez’s “primary goal after completing his sentence will be to find work in Mexico so that he can support his girlfriend and children and again be present in their lives,” the memo states.

Vasquez-Martinez also issued a handwritten letter asking the court for leniency, stating multiple times that he was remorseful for his actions.

“Confessing to the court with great shame that (the) sole purpose of my drug distribution was to ensure continued drug use, to appease a constant hunger for drugs. That was my end, not capital gain, or personal profit,” Vasquez-Martinez wrote at the time.

He was ultimately sentenced to 1½ years in federal prison on July 18, 2016, and was later deported to Mexico following the completion of his sentence, court documents show.

It’s unclear when Vasquez-Martinez returned to the U.S. following his deportation to Mexico after his federal conviction.