Stepfather and stepson arrested on federal drug and gun charges

SEATTLE – A Kent gun dealer and his stepson were arrested Friday following their indictment on seven criminal counts related to illegal gun sales and distribution of controlled substances.

According to the indictment, Mark E. Bryant, 49, is charged in four different counts with distributing oxycodone, hydrocodone and morphine last September and October. He is also charged with selling a firearm to a drug user. Bryant’s stepson, Andrew Gagley, 30, of Sumner, is separately charged with selling a firearm to a felon and illegal alien. Both are accused of illegally distributing Demerol.

Court records say Bryant, a federal firearms license holder, sold guns or drugs to persons working with law enforcement on the property of his Kent gun shop, Westside Guns and East Valley Auto Rebuild, on multiple occasions. Gagley also participated in gun and drug sales in and near the business. The indictment alleges that on Oct. 26, 2012, Gagley sold a Colt .556 caliber semi-automatic rifle to a person working with law enforcement who he knew was an illegal alien and convicted felon. Two days before that, Bryant illegally sold a Firestar .45 pistol handgun to a person he knew to be a drug user.

The arrests stem from an eight month investigation by the South Sound Task Force, which includes U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement’s Homeland Security Investigations, the Drug Enforcement Administration, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives, the Lakewood Police Department and the Washington State Liquor Control Board.

The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Western District of Washington is prosecuting the case. Each of the crimes charged carries a maximum penalty of up to 20 years in prison.

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.