A 33-year-old Kent man was sentenced this week to 22 months in federal prison for conspiracy to distribute controlled substances after federal investigators found large quantities of drugs and cash in his home last year, the U.S. Attorney’s Office announced.
Martin Alonzo Peinado Torres, a Mexican citizen residing unlawfully in the U.S., pleaded guilty earlier this year after authorities seized more than three kilograms of methamphetamine, nearly a kilogram of fentanyl pills, and smaller amounts of fentanyl powder and cocaine from his residence during an August 2024 search.
U.S. District Judge Kymberly Evanson imposed the sentence in U.S. District Court in Seattle, noting Peinado Torres had no prior criminal history in either the U.S. or Mexico. “You were lured to the U.S. under false pretenses,” Evanson said from the bench.
According to court records, Peinado Torres told the court he had responded to a Facebook post advertising construction work in the U.S. Upon arrival and after filling out paperwork, he said he was coerced into drug trafficking when the purported employer threatened to harm his family using the information he had provided.
Despite these claims, prosecutors argued for a four-year sentence, citing the ongoing fentanyl crisis.
“In King County alone, there have been 453 overdose deaths as of June 16, 2025, with 380 of those deaths involving fentanyl,” Assistant U.S. Attorney Casey Conzatti wrote in a sentencing memo. “Mr. Peinado’s actions pushed highly dangerous, deadly, and addictive substances into the community, and contributed to the addiction of an unknown number of individuals.”
Peinado Torres also had more than $12,000 in alleged drug proceeds in cash at the time of the search, authorities said.
The case was investigated by the Drug Enforcement Administration, Homeland Security Investigations and the Puyallup Police Department as part of an Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETF) operation.
Peinado Torres is expected to be deported following the completion of his prison term.
