A Ridgefield man connected to a white supremacist prison gang pleaded guilty Wednesday to drug and gun crimes in federal court. He admitted in his plea agreement to creating a distribution network of fentanyl pills to Alaska.
Ronaldo McComb, 59, is one of 27 people indicted by a grand jury in March 2023 in connection with a drug trafficking ring tied to the Aryan Family prison gang, according to the Department of Justice.
McComb pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court in Tacoma to conspiracy to distribute controlled substances and felon in possession of a firearm. The drug conviction carries a mandatory minimum of 10 years in prison due to the amount of narcotics involved in the case, the department said in a news release.
Prosecutors and defense attorneys agreed to recommend 13 years in prison.
The indictment states McComb distributed fentanyl Jan. 30, 2023, in Clark County and possessed fentanyl and heroin with intent to distribute Feb. 7, 2022, in Lewis County.
McComb was arrested March 22, 2023. Authorities found methamphetamine, heroin, three firearms and large amounts of cash and gold bars in McComb’s Kalama home, according to the news release. As part of his plea, McComb stipulated to the forfeiture of that cash and gold.
McComb acknowledged multiple recorded phone calls with co-conspirators in which he discussed his drug trafficking activities involving distributing multiple pounds of methamphetamine and tens of thousands of fentanyl pills, according to the Department of Justice.
He also admitted to possessing large quantities of heroin and a 9 mm handgun that law enforcement seized from the trunk of his vehicle following a traffic stop in February 2022. McComb was prohibited from possessing firearms due to his felony convictions for assault and robbery in Clark County and another assault conviction in Cowlitz County, the news release states.
The FBI investigated the gang McComb was a part of, and just a year into the investigation, officers seized 830,000 fentanyl pills, 5½ pounds of fentanyl powder, 223 pounds of methamphetamine, 3½ pounds of heroin, 5 pounds of cocaine, $388,000 in cash and 48 firearms, a previous Department of Justice news release states.
