Drug runner sentenced to nearly 6 years in federal prison
![Juan Pablo Carrillo-Nava, 46, crashed his car into a chain link fence during a police chase in 2020. He was sentenced to nearly six years in federal prison for drug trafficking Thursday. (Courtesy of the United States Attorneys Office for the Eastern District of Washington)](https://thumb.spokesman.com/uO6q6eDqVn9RLDznlEJuDvMVKgE=/600x0/media.spokesman.com/graphics/2018/07/sr-loader.png)
A 46-year-old drug runner who led Spokane Police on a car chase in 2020, was sentenced Thursday to nearly 6 years in federal prison.
Juan Pablo Carrillo-Nava was sentenced to 70 months in prison for possession with intent to distribute 50 grams or more of methamphetamine.
In 2020, the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) learned that Carillo-Nava was a drug runner operating in Eastern Washington for a Mexican cartel.
The DEA planned to purchase meth from the organization as part of an investigation on August 13, 2020.
Carrillo-Nava didn’t show up, so agents went to a secondary location where the organization previously conducted drug deals; there, they spotted Carillo-Nava in a green Honda Accord.
Agents asked Spokane police to respond to do a traffic stop but instead of stopping Carrillo-Nava sped off.
Eventually, after driving 75 mph through a neighborhood, Carillo-Nava crashed into an oncoming vehicle, sending his car through a chain link fence into the front yard of a nearby home.
Carillo-Nava was arrested and police found more than $28,000 in cash in his car, along with nearly 2 pounds of heroin and more than a half-pound of meth.
The sentencing is a step toward keeping the community safer, said Vanessa Waldref, United States Attorney for the Eastern District of Washington.
“Mr. Carillo-Nava was engaged in both reckless behavior that was very dangerous for our community and connected to a large drug trafficking organization in Mexico,” Waldref said.
Waldref noted Carillo-Nava was bringing a large amount of drugs into the area and, when caught, continued to endanger the community by fleeing.
“We are really focused on individuals like this who are creating a lot of harm to our community,” Waldref said. “He’s now going to be serving a significant sentence.”