A 44-year-old man was sentenced in federal court Friday to 11 years in prison for illegally stashing drugs and dozens of guns at his home in Renton.
Seattle police arrested David Christopher Pitts and searched his home in December 2021 after an undercover drug trafficking investigation.
A person working with police allegedly bought fentanyl from Pitts at his home; police then obtained a search warrant and found 25 firearms, including at least one stolen handgun. In a bedroom closet, police also found $55,000 in cash, plus methamphetamine, fentanyl, heroin, cocaine and other drugs.
According to U.S. Attorney Nicholas W. Brown’s office, Pitts was storing 470,000 lethal doses of fentanyl.
“Worse, many of the doses were disguised as pharmaceutical pills that would not put the user on notice that he was ingesting such a potentially dangerous substance,” wrote Assistant U.S. Attorney Erin Becker in a statement to the U.S. District Court in Seattle.
While searching the residence, police found 15 handguns, four semi-automatic rifles, two rifles and a shotgun, as well as power tools, camera gear, laptops and other goods that appeared to be stolen. Brown’s office wrote in its report that “these items are often traded for drugs.”
Pitts has two prior state convictions for possessing firearms while dealing drugs and is not allowed to possess guns.