A federal judge in Tacoma will hear arguments Thursday on whether Jonathan E. Karns should remain jailed pending trial or be released to inpatient drug treatment.
A federal judge in Tacoma will hear arguments Thursday on whether Jonathan E. Karns—the man indicted alongside former Clallam County Drug Court Coordinator Johnny Watts Jr.—should remain jailed pending trial or be released to inpatient drug treatment.
U.S. District Judge Tiffany M. Cartwright will take up the motion at 2:30 p.m. July 16 in the Tacoma federal courthouse, reviewing the question anew with no deference to Magistrate Judge Grady J. Leupold, who ordered Karns detained June 15.
The defense says that order found Karns rebutted the presumption of detention but concluded no conditions would adequately address the danger to the community.
A federal grand jury indicted the two men on June 10. Karns faces three counts tied to the March drug operation at the 7 Cedars Casino in Blyn: possessing 40 grams or more of a fentanyl mixture with intent to distribute, unlawful possession of a firearm, and possessing a Glock 48 9mm pistol in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime.
The drug count carries a five-year mandatory minimum; the firearm-in-furtherance count adds a consecutive mandatory five years.
According to the government, detectives watching a March 12 warrant operation saw Karns carry a distinctive red backpack from a casino hotel room to a Lexus outside.
A warrant search of the car turned up the backpack, holding 43.67 grams of fentanyl per state crime lab testing, a scale, drug paraphernalia and the handgun.
No drugs or firearms were found on Karns himself at the casino, the defense notes, and the Lexus was not his.
In the June 29 motion, Assistant Federal Public Defender John R. Carpenter asked that Karns, 44, be released to a 30-to-45-day inpatient program at American Behavioral Health Services, followed by sober housing through the state’s Housing and Essential Needs Referral Program.
The motion describes a man introduced to methamphetamine at 14, unhoused through years of addiction, and motivated to stay clean by his four-year-old son.
Carpenter draws a pointed comparison to Watts, released on bond June 10 despite being tied to 680 grams of drugs—more than 13 times Karns’ alleged amount—and allegedly having a gun and drugs on him when arrested.
Citing a court minute order, the defense says the government was not seeking detention when Watts was released.
The government’s response states it moved to detain both men at their June 5 initial appearances.
The defense also argues Karns’ only violent felonies are 20 to 23 years old, his recent record is largely addiction-related misdemeanors, and the complaint never alleges he threatened anyone or displayed a firearm.
“Mr. Karns could provide a similar success story, if granted the opportunity,” Carpenter wrote, citing a past case in which a defendant facing drug and gun charges flourished on pretrial release.
In a July 6 response, Assistant U.S. Attorney Elyne Vaught argued the charges trigger a presumption of detention and every Bail Reform Act factor favors it.
Prosecutors stress the lethality of fentanyl, the danger of allegedly trafficking while armed at a busy casino, and cellphone records they say show Karns discussing drug transactions with potential customers.
Vaught’s filing leans heavily on Karns’ supervision record. At the time of the alleged offenses, prosecutors say, he was on probation for a 2023 protection order violation conviction out of Port Orchard Municipal Court, had violated that probation twice, and drew a bench warrant Feb. 17, 2026—less than a month before the casino operation—for failing to appear at a review hearing.
They also cite a domestic violence protection order active through 2028 and call the release plan short on post-treatment arrangements. “Karns’ criminal history clearly shows that he is not amenable to any court-imposed conditions,” Vaught wrote.
The March operation also produced state charges against Dylan C. Marsh-Backs, who was sentenced last week in Clallam County to five years in prison for possessing fentanyl with intent to deliver.
Watts and Karns have pleaded not guilty, and a jury trial is currently set for Aug. 17 before Judge Cartwright.
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