Federal Judge Endorses Pretrial Sanctions After Former Clallam County Drug Court Coordinator Tests Positive for Meth and Fentanyl

Johnny F. Watts, Jr., the former Clallam County Drug Court coordinator now facing a federal drug charge, tested positive for methamphetamine and for fentanyl on two later dates while on pretrial release, according to a violation report filed Tuesday in U.S. District Court in Tacoma.

The report, submitted by the U.S. Probation and Pretrial Services Office, states that Watts violated the bond condition barring him from using, consuming or possessing controlled substances. 

Chief U.S. Magistrate Judge Theresa L. Fricke signed the document the same day. Under the heading "The Court Finds Probable Cause and Directs," she checked the box endorsing the probation officer's actions. The boxes for a summons, an arrest warrant and other relief were left blank.

Watts, 50, is charged in U.S. District Court for the Western District of Washington with possession of a controlled substance with intent to distribute. He has pleaded not guilty. 

The federal case grew out of the two-day March operation by the Olympic Peninsula Narcotics Enforcement Team that began near Port Angeles and ended at the 7 Cedars Casino near Sequim.

What the report describes

According to the filing, the first violation occurred in June, shortly after Watts was released from custody. 

Pretrial services wrote that Watts was escorted from the U.S. Marshals to the pretrial office to complete intake and submit a urinalysis. 

The sample tested presumptively positive for amphetamines and was later confirmed positive for methamphetamine by a national laboratory. 

When confronted, the report states, Watts admitted using methamphetamine a few days earlier.

The report then describes two June dates on which Watts tested positive for fentanyl. In the first instance, an officer contacted Watts at his residence and he provided an unobserved urinalysis that returned presumptively positive. 

The report states he initially denied using fentanyl. In the second, Watts reported to the pretrial office and submitted another sample that also returned presumptively positive. 

The report states he explained the result by attributing it to sexual relations with his girlfriend.

Both samples were sent to a national laboratory and confirmed positive for fentanyl and norfentanyl, a metabolite the body produces after fentanyl enters the system.

When the confirmed results were discussed with him, the report says, Watts acknowledged he has been struggling with drug use and should not be associating with negative peers. 

He agreed to attend appointments for both substance use disorder and mental health evaluations and to comply with all recommended treatment. The officer noted that Watts reported attending sober support groups frequently.

The officer recommended continued supervision with a referral for substance use disorder and mental health assessments, and asked the court to endorse the actions already taken rather than impose new sanctions. 

The report states that the assistant U.S. attorney and defense counsel John Black were consulted and concurred.

Watts's conditions of release, reprinted in the filing, include drug and alcohol testing, a mental health evaluation, surrender of passports, an employment requirement, and no contact with co-defendants or witnesses in the case.

Trial date in question

Two other documents landed on the docket the same day. Port Angeles attorney John D. Black filed an unopposed motion asking U.S. District Judge Tiffany M. Cartwright to move the trial from August 17, 2026, to a date up to and including February 28, 2027. 

Watts separately signed a written waiver of his right to a speedy trial under the Sixth Amendment and the Speedy Trial Act, stating that he was advised by counsel and acted knowingly and voluntarily. Both were dated August 2 and filed August 4.

The waiver acknowledges that if the court accepts it, the intervening time will be excluded from the speedy trial calculation.

The request mirrors one filed a week earlier by co-defendant Jonathan E. Karns, whose attorney asked for the same window. As of Tuesday, the court had not ruled on either motion.

The pretrial services report is an allegation of noncompliance with conditions of release and is not a criminal conviction. No hearing on the violations has been set.