Final Federal Defendant from “Operation New Day” Sentenced to Five Years in Prison

SEATTLE, Wash. - A 56-year-old Seattle man was sentenced today in U.S. District Court in Seattle to 5 years in prison for dealing drugs in downtown Seattle while armed with a handgun, announced U.S. Attorney Tessa M. Gorman. Cuong Quoc Cao, pleaded guilty to possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime. At the sentencing hearing U.S. District Judge James L. Robart said, "At 56 you should know better… We have someone who has absolutely no respect for the law…. We are not effectively dealing with these open-air drug situations."

According to records filed in the case, in late January and February 2022, the Drug Enforcement Administration and Seattle Police Department targeted open air drug dealing at 12th and Jackson as part of "Operation New Day." Cao was photographed and observed making hand-to-hand drug sales. Cao left the area when a woman nearby was being treated for an overdose. Police approached Cao and placed him under arrest. A 9mm semi-automatic pistol with a loaded magazine was found in his backpack. Cao also had crack cocaine, methamphetamine, heroin, and fentanyl pills.

Cao was indicted in March 2022, and pleaded guilty to possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime on the eve of trial in April 2024.

In asking for the five-year sentence with three years of supervised release, Assistant United States Attorney Cecelia Gregson wrote to the court, "While the amount of fentanyl the defendant possessed with the intent to distribute is not substantial, the fact that he brazenly sold drugs and illegally packed a firearm to protect himself, however, are cause for great concern. A sentence of sixty months imprisonment provides a reasonable punishment for the defendant's decision to traffic fentanyl - a drug which is poisoning our community - and provides a modicum of safety to the community through incapacitation. Following release from custody, the defendant should avail himself to the services coordinated by United States Probation, most importantly substance abuse treatment."

The case was investigated by the Drug Enforcement Administration and the Seattle Police Department.

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