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POSTED: Wednesday, Dec. 03, 2008

Last person sentenced in Whatcom County drug ring

The last of nine defendants arrested in a September 2007 bust of a local drug-dealing ring has been sentenced and received a little more than 6 1/2 years in prison.

Bodie L. Gwinner, who pleaded guilty to two counts of dealing cocaine and two counts of possessing methamphetamine in May, was sentenced in Whatcom County Superior Court Tuesday, Dec. 2.

He was booked into Whatcom County Jail, where he awaits transfer to a state prison.

Northwest Regional Drug Task Force agents spent more than a year investigating the ring, which was run out of Gwinner's home on the 2100 block of Mount Baker Highway and his brother Robert's home on the 2600 block of Dakin Street in Bellingham, according to charging documents filed in Superior Court.

Agents said the brothers either personally sold or arranged the sale of thousands of dollars of drugs, according to charging documents.

Bodie Gwinner received the longest sentence of any of the defendants arrested in the bust.

Robert Matthew Gwinner pleaded guilty in February to five counts of dealing heroin, cocaine and oxycodone. He was sentenced in March to 20 months in prison.

Tracy P. Low pleaded guilty in November to one count of possessing meth and was sentenced to 18 months in prison.

Kristi L. Kleinhampl pleaded guilty to one count of possessing meth and was sentenced to a year in prison.

The Gwinners were originally charged with dealing meth for selling the drug to undercover officers for $220.

James W. Powell, the owner of Jim's Marine Repair, was charged with one count of possession of meth with intent to deliver. He opted to resolve the charge in Drug Court in September.

Powell allegedly traded a boat to undercover officers in exchange for two ounces of meth and $1,500, according to court documents.

Jason J. Porter pleaded guilty in January to one count of possessing meth and was sentenced to 20 days of work release. Porter possessed a scale and many small bags of the drug when he was arrested in the bust of Bodie Gwinner's home.

Michelle R. Slage pleaded guilty in December to one count of possessing meth. She entered an in-patient drug treatment program in January. Slage sold meth to a confidential informant on the 2400 block of Queen Street.

Scott C. Bonner pleaded guilty to two counts of dealing meth and was sentenced to five years in prison. Bonner sold meth to undercover officers at Bodie Gwinner's home and again at a motel in Burlington.

Ofelia Smutny was arrested for allegedly renting the room Bonner sold the drugs in and for possessing the money later. She pleaded guilty in Skagit County Superior Court.