Feds charge two in drug case

SPOKANE — Two men have been indicted in eastern Washington in connection with seized drugs, firearms and commercial pill presses, according to an announcement from the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Eastern District of Washington.

Timothy Gary Maddox was indicted by a federal grand jury on 10 felony counts, and Nicholas Bruan Adams on seven felony counts, according to the announcement.

One of the pill presses seized by investigators is the first known commercial press associated with illegal fentanyl manufacturing in the district, according to the announcement. The presses are believed to be able to produce thousands of pills per hour.

Investigators also seized more than a dozen firearms, suppressors, switches used to convert firearms from semi-auto to full auto, and more than $57,000 in cash, the announcement said. Investigators also seized quantities of fentanyl, methamphetamine, heroin and cocaine. 

“Our community is safer and stronger as a result of the investigative work of the numerous law enforcement agencies, who came together to investigate this case,” U.S. Attorney Vanessa Waldref wrote in the announcement. “Seizures of large-scale pill presses like this are key to cutting off the deadly supply of illegal fentanyl in the Inland Northwest and elsewhere.”

Maddox and Adams were arrested in connection to a months-long drug investigation by Homeland Security Investigations and the Regional Street Crimes Unit consisting of the Spokane County Sheriff’s Office, Spokane Police Department, Spokane Valley Police Department, Customs and Border Protection, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives, the Washington State Department of Corrections and the Drug Enforcement Administration, the announcement said.