A 22-year-old Federal Way man was sentenced in U.S. District Court in Seattle this week to nine years in prison for his role in a conspiracy to distribute massive amounts of fentanyl, First Assistant U.S. Attorney Charles Neil Floyd announced in a news release.
Sir Terrique Milam was a trusted associate of Markell Jackson, one of the leaders of the family-based drug trafficking organization. Milam was heard on phone calls arranging to go to Arizona with Markell Jackson to pick up a 150,000-pill load of fentanyl.
“In close partnership with the leader of this organization, Mr. Milam conspired with him and others to distribute huge quantities of deadly drugs,” W. Mike Herrington, special agent in charge of the FBI Seattle field office, said in the release. “He clearly has not learned his lesson from previous convictions and from his attempts to evade law enforcement and so will have to deal with the consequences of his repeated criminal behavior. I commend the work of the investigators and prosecutors on this extensive case, which reached across the United States to hold these drug traffickers responsible.”
Over the course of this investigation, law enforcement seized more than 846,000 fentanyl pills, nearly 7 kilograms of fentanyl powder, 7 kilograms of cocaine and 29 firearms. They also seized more than $116,000 in cash.
Milam was identified in the wire-tap investigation and was stopped in August 2024 returning from Eastern Washington. The police stop revealed he was carrying a firearm in the vehicle. Despite that run-in with law enforcement, Milam continued to be involved with drug trafficking, according to the release. On Oct. 2, 2024, law enforcement executed search warrants at Milam’s home, seizing 323 grams of fentanyl from under Milam’s bed, multiple drug scales and $4,900 that Milam admits were proceeds of drug trafficking.
In October 2024, law enforcement fanned out across the country and arrested 17 people on indictments and criminal complaints for the multi-state drug trafficking conspiracy. The two-year investigation culminated in search and arrest warrants in Georgia, Missouri, Texas, Arizona, and Washington state.
The drug ring was led by Marquis Jackson, 33, his parents, defendants Mandel Jackson, 52, and Matelita (Marty) Jackson, 51, and siblings Markell Jackson, 23, and Miracle Patu-Jackson, 25. Members of the Jackson family are indicted for various conspiracy counts including drug trafficking and money laundering conspiracies. Records filed in the case link some of the Jacksons to a Seattle area street gang.
The Jackson family members, and other members of the conspiracy, are scheduled for trial in July 2027.
The charges contained in the indictment are only allegations. A person is presumed innocent unless and until he or she is proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.
A number of the members of the drug distribution ring have pleaded guilty and already been sentenced.
This case was investigated by the FBI, (Seattle, Phoenix, Atlanta, Kansas City, Dallas, Las Vegas, Montana), DEA (Seattle, Kansas City, Wichita, Montana), the Seattle Police Department, King County Sheriff’s Office, Whatcom Gang and Drug Task Force, the Lummi Police Department, the Bureau of Indian Affairs, Homeland Security Investigations, and United States Border Patrol Blaine Sector Targeting and Intelligence Division.
The case is being prosecuted by Assistant United States Attorneys Zach Dillon and Crystal Correa.
