TACOMA, WA — A 39-year-old Pierce County woman was sentenced Friday to 84 months in federal prison for her role in a large-scale drug trafficking operation tied to Aryan prison gangs, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Washington.
C’La Morales was identified as a high-level redistributor of fentanyl, heroin, and methamphetamine. Her sentence includes 24 months for drug trafficking and an additional 60 months for possessing firearms in furtherance of those crimes.
Morales worked closely with Jesse Bailey, the convicted leader of one of the three interrelated distribution rings under investigation. Prosecutors said she knowingly distributed large quantities of narcotics while armed, despite a prior conviction in 2019 for similar offenses. At the time of her latest arrest, she was wanted for failing to comply with the Pierce County drug court program.
Federal agents seized over 5,800 fentanyl-laced pills, 480 grams of heroin, a loaded Mossberg shotgun, and multiple pistols from Morales’ storage unit and vehicle. Authorities also recovered $5,183 in suspected drug proceeds.
At sentencing, U.S. District Judge David Estudillo stated, “You took on the responsibility to distribute large quantities of controlled substances. You had to know those were going to lead to addiction and wreak havoc for those individuals and their families.”
The case is part of a larger takedown of South Sound drug trafficking rings. A March 2023 coordinated law enforcement sweep resulted in two dozen federal arrests, the seizure of 177 firearms, over 20 kilos of various narcotics, and more than $330,000 in cash from 18 locations in Washington and Arizona.
Morales will serve five years of supervised release following her prison term. Jesse Bailey is scheduled for sentencing on May 16, 2025. His wife and co-conspirator, Candace Bailey, will be sentenced on June 13, 2025.
This case was prosecuted as part of an Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETF) operation led by the FBI, with assistance from the DEA, Homeland Security Investigations, and several local law enforcement agencies.
