Seattle Gun & Oxy Ring: Ankrom & Beach Get Years

SEATTLE, WA – The streets of Seattle are marginally safer today after two men involved in a sprawling gun and drug trafficking operation were handed stiff federal prison sentences. Patrick Kelly Ankrom, 48, of Snohomish, and Shad Beach, 38, of Seattle, both learned their fate in U.S. District Court, the result of the long-running “Operation Oliver’s Twist,” a sting that exposed a network funneling stolen firearms and potent narcotics into the city’s underbelly.

The operation, a joint effort between the Seattle Police Department, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms & Explosives (ATF), and the FBI, utilized an undercover storefront to purchase illicit goods from criminals. According to U.S. Attorney Jenny A. Durkan, the operation has already led to the accountability of 34 defendants, with more potentially on the horizon. “Every gun in the hands of a criminal presents a danger to the community,” Durkan stated. “This operation took stolen firearms off the street and uncovered drug networks pumping oxycodone into our neighborhoods.”

Patrick Ankrom, a repeat offender, received a five-year federal sentence, to be served consecutively with an additional 17 months in Snohomish County jail. The 48-year-old pleaded guilty to conspiracy to distribute oxycodone and being a felon in possession of a firearm. Investigators documented multiple oxycodone sales to undercover officers in March and April of 2011. But the stakes escalated on April 4th, when Ankrom peddled a trio of stolen firearms: a loaded Ruger .44 revolver, a Rock Island Armory .45 caliber semi-automatic pistol, and a GSG .22 caliber semi-automatic rifle. He was indicted February 29, 2012, and entered a guilty plea on July 27, 2012.

Shad Beach, facing a longer stretch, was sentenced to six years in prison and three years of supervised release for being a felon in possession of firearms. Beach’s involvement centered on the sale of stolen property, including vehicles and computers, to the same undercover storefront. But like Ankrom, Beach upped the ante, offloading a cache of stolen firearms on May 2, 2011, including a Rohm .22 caliber revolver, a Ruger .22 caliber rifle, a Remington .243 caliber rifle, a Mossberg 410-gauge shotgun, another Remington .22 caliber rifle, and a Winchester 12-gauge shotgun. Beach’s rap sheet is extensive, including convictions for burglary, methamphetamine possession, attempted assault, and multiple counts of theft and possession of stolen property – all disqualifying him from legally owning firearms. He was indicted on February 29, 2012, and pleaded guilty on November 19, 2012.

“This investigation uncovered over 100 participants, but today we see two of the most brazen face justice for their actions,” said Special Agent-in-Charge Laura M. Laughlin of the FBI Seattle office. “Mr. Ankrom and Mr. Beach did not just sell stolen weapons and contraband, but they did so again and again. Without the joint SPD, ATF, and FBI effort on an inventive undercover operation, high-powered firearms could have ended up in the hands of violent criminals.”

Seattle Police Chief John Diaz hailed the operation as one of the most elaborate undertaken by the department in over three decades. “Our detectives developed great cases on these two suspects and brought them to justice,” Diaz said. “Our communities can rest a little easier knowing these dangerous men, their illegal drugs and illegally-possessed guns have been removed from the streets of Seattle. This is just another example of the incredible work that the men and women of the Seattle Police Department perform each and every day.” The case was investigated by the Seattle Police Department, the ATF, and the FBI.