SEATTLE – A federal judge on Friday sentenced a man who sold guns and heroin from the basement apartment of a home in Seattle’s Magnolia neighborhood in Seattle to six years in prison, according to officials.
The home was just a few blocks from a busy playground in a neighborhood park, according to authorities.
Jorge Carlos Camps, 34, was arrested in May 2014, when law enforcement seized a dozen weapons including a Mac-11 submachine gun and silencer.
Camps pleaded guilty in November 2014.
At sentencing U.S. District Judge Richard A. Jones said Camps was dealing in “a dangerous combination of firearms and drugs.”
“This defendant played Russian Roulette with public safety by offering to put high powered firearms into the hands of anyone ready to pay,” said Acting U. S. Attorney Annette L. Hayes.
Adding “By ignoring the regulatory requirements that licensed dealers must comply with, Camps became part of the black market that regularly provides guns to convicted felons who often go on to use them to commit further crimes. Our communities should not have to deal with additional murders, assaults and armed robberies because of this defendant’s wrong doing.”
According to evidence surrounding this case, this is what happened, according to officials.
- On April 28, 2014, Camps sold heroin and a firearm to a person working with law enforcement.
- Camps sent pictures of various weapons via text message, along with a price list for the guns.
- He was selling assault rifles, tactical ballistic body armor, military grade ammunition, silencers, and a variety of tactical accessories.
- Camps also possessed, and was willing to sell, various badges and patches from area police departments.
- Camps has a prior felony conviction for violating a domestic violence court order and is prohibited from possessing firearms.
A second defendant, Roger Lee Hiddleston, 44, of Seattle, pleaded guilty in November 2014 and was sentenced to six years in prison for possessing a firearm and supplying heroin to Camps.
Police stopped Hiddleston’s car after he left the Magnolia home.
Inside they found heroin, methamphetamine, drug distribution materials, and $2,225 in currency. In the trunk they recovered a Sig Sauer Model P230 9mm Kurz semi-automatic pistol.
Hiddleston is also prohibited from possessing firearms due to a domestic violence order.