This story was originally posted to MyNorthwest.com
Two residents of Pierce County pleaded guilty Friday to conspiring to sell fentanyl pills via the dark web, an illegal online marketplace for drugs.
Trevor Stephen Haahr, 34, of Puyallup, and Kaeli Arielle Albert, 35, of Orting, face up to 40 years in prison ahead of sentencing on December 18, 2025, the Department of Justice (DOJ) announced.
Statements in the plea agreements revealed that in early 2023, law enforcement began its investigation into sales of fentanyl on the dark web. Detectives ordered pills that were labeled as “M30 oxycodone” pills; however, testing proved the pills were fentanyl.
Investigation into Pierce County drug dealers
The investigation identified Haahr as the operator of the marketplace on the dark web. In February 2024, Haahr mailed a package of more than 10,000 fentanyl pills to Pierce County.
Haahr was surveilled by law enforcement, and the surveillance uncovered multiple brief meetings with Albert, where cash and drugs were exchanged between the two co-conspirators.
On March 11, 2024, search warrants were executed at Haahr’s residence, office, storage locker, and vehicle. Additional search warrants were served at Albert’s home and other locations.
In Haahr’s office, his computer was signed on to the dark web, under the vendor profile investigated by law enforcement. In Haahr’s truck and storage locker, drug proceeds, fentanyl pills, and shipping supplies for drugs were found by law enforcement.
Inside Albert’s residence, investigators seized more than $23,000 in drug proceeds along with body armor.
2 defendants pleaded guilty to all charges
In the defendants’ plea agreements, the two co-conspirators admitted that they distributed more than 100,000 fentanyl-laced pills.
Bitcoin was also seized by law enforcement, a form of digital currency that Haahr received as payment for the drugs. DOJ noted the bitcoin was worth approximately $50,000 at the time it was seized. Haahr forfeited the bitcoin as the proceeds of his drug-selling operation.
Prosecutors recommended sentences at the low end of the guidelines range calculated by the court.
“Conspiracy to distribute controlled substances in this volume is punishable by up to 40 years in prison,” the DOJ stated. “Possession with intent to distribute is punishable by up to twenty years in prison.”
Haahr pleaded guilty to both the conspiracy count and intent to distribute controlled substances. Albert pleaded guilty to conspiracy to distribute controlled substances.
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