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Puyallup man pleads guilty to trafficking heroin, fentanyl and meth

TACOMA, Wash. — A Puyallup man is facing at least 10 years in prison after pleading guilty to federal drug charges Thursday.

According to a plea agreement, on June 23 and 24, 2020, Jeremy Gongas sold heroin to an informant. Gongas, 34, was arrested in July 2020. When police searched his home, they found “dealer-sized quantities” of heroin, fentanyl pills and methamphetamine, as well as more than $24,000 in cash.

Less than a month later, investigators said they saw Gongas meeting with a suspected drug dealer who was under police surveillance.

On Aug. 20, 2020, Gongas and the suspected dealer met at a convenience store in Des Moines. and police stopped Gongas as he drove away after the meeting.

Court documents said a drug-sniffing dog found heroin, methamphetamine, and fentanyl pills near Gongas’s stopped car. Eventually, Gongas admitted that he threw the drugs out of the car window.

He was charged federally on Aug. 21, 2020, and has been in the Federal Detention Center at SeaTac since.

Gongas pleaded guilty on Thursday to possession of heroin and methamphetamine with intent to distribute.

He is scheduled to be sentenced in U.S. District Court in Tacoma on Sept. 13.

Due to the quantities of the drugs involved, Gongas faces a mandatory minimum of 10 years in prison and a maximum prison sentence of up to life.

Both the government and the defense have agreed to recommend a 10-year prison sentence, but the district court can impose any sentence allowed by law.