Seattle – A 53-year-old Seattle man who has a history of drug dealing in Seattle’s Pioneer Square neighborhood, was sentenced today in U.S. District Court in Seattle to six years in prison, announced U.S. Attorney Nick Brown. Marvin Traylor was arrested in February 2021, for dealing drugs while armed with a gun. Traylor was on supervised release at the time for prior drug dealing convictions.
U.S. District Judge John C. Coughenour imposed a 5-year sentence for use of a firearm in connection with a drug trafficking crime, and an additional year in prison for violating the conditions of his supervised release.
According to records filed in the case, Traylor was released from prison and began his term of supervised release in February 2019. The U.S. Probation Office worked diligently to assist Traylor with reentry to the community. Despite that hard work, Traylor committed new offenses: domestic violence assault, and later was arrested for dealing drugs again in Pioneer Square. During the new term of supervised release, Traylor was assisted by the Veteran’s Administration and King County’s Law Enforcement Assisted Diversion (LEAD) program. However, his drug dealing continued.
In February 2021, undercover Seattle Police Officers observed Traylor making drug sales in the 12th and Jackson area of the International District. When an elderly Asian man came to the street corner to panhandle, Traylor punched the elderly man and held something in his pocket to the man’s head. He struck the man again with what was in his pocket and kicked the man. Bystanders separated the two. A short time later officers arrested Traylor and found a loaded handgun in the same pocket that Traylor had used to threaten and then strike the man. The gun had been reported stolen. Traylor had small bags of crack cocaine, heroin and methamphetamine on him at the time of the arrest.
In asking for the significant sentence, Assistant United States Attorney Vince Lombardi noted that Traylor’s lawbreaking had been “escalating” – not diminishing as it should with the involvement of Federal Probation.
The case was investigated by the Seattle Police Department, the Drug Enforcement Administration(DEA), and U.S. Probation.
The case was prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorney Vince Lombardi.