Kitsap County Man Sentenced to Five Years in Casino Fentanyl Case
A Kitsap County man was sentenced Thursday to five years in prison after pleading guilty to possessing fentanyl with intent to deliver it, capping a Clallam County prosecution that began with a March drug raid at the 7 Cedars Casino in Blyn.
Dylan C. Marsh-Backs, 36, pleaded guilty July 9 in Clallam County Superior Court to possession with intent to deliver a controlled substance—fentanyl—-and second-degree unlawful possession of a firearm.
Judge Elizabeth Stanley sentenced him the same day to 60 months in prison on the drug count, the top of the standard sentencing range, with a concurrent 16-month term on the firearm count.
The sentence followed an agreed recommendation between the state and the defense, according to court minutes.
Chief Criminal Deputy Prosecuting Attorney Michele Devlin handled the case for the state; Marsh-Backs was represented by attorney Jesse Williams.
The charges stemmed from a two-day Olympic Peninsula Narcotics Enforcement Team operation in March.
On March 11, deputies arrested two men at a rental home in the Agnew area, including Johnny Watts, the former coordinator of Clallam County’s adult and juvenile drug courts, after deputies said they found a loaded firearm and a suspected controlled substance on him.
According to the Clallam County Sheriff’s Office, information developed in the investigation indicated that a group of Kitsap County residents staying at the 7 Cedars Casino was selling controlled substances in Clallam County.
On March 12, OPNET detectives, working with local law enforcement and casino surveillance staff, contacted the group at the casino and arrested Marsh-Backs.
The Sheriff’s Office said he was found with 196.37 grams of fentanyl packaged for distribution, a scale, packaging materials and two loaded pistol magazines, and that a search warrant served on his vehicle turned up a .45-caliber pistol and ammunition.
Marsh-Backs was prohibited from possessing firearms because of prior felony convictions; court records list a 2014 Kitsap County conviction for possession of heroin with intent to deliver and a 2025 Kitsap County conviction for second-degree unlawful possession of a firearm, along with a 2009 conviction for first-degree trafficking in stolen property.
Across the two-day operation, OPNET reported seizing roughly 262 grams of suspected fentanyl, more than 515 grams of suspected methamphetamine, about 30 grams of suspected cocaine, 147 Suboxone strips, 10 firearms and nearly $19,000 in cash.
After posting $250,000 bail in the Clallam County case, Marsh-Backs was arrested days later in Kitsap County, where he now faces two counts of possession of a controlled substance with intent to deliver.
He pleaded not guilty in that case, which remains pending, with trial currently set for Aug. 31.
Watts and Jonathan Karns, another man arrested during the casino operation, were later charged federally.
Clallam County dismissed its charges against Watts in June after federal prosecutors took over the case, and both men pleaded not guilty at initial appearances in U.S. District Court in Tacoma.
At sentencing, the court found that a substance use disorder contributed to Marsh-Backs’ offenses.
Upon his release from prison, he will serve 12 months of community custody, during which he must complete a substance use disorder evaluation and comply with any recommended treatment, and he is ordered to stay away from the 7 Cedars Casino and Hotel.
He is also required to register as a felony firearm offender for four years and to provide a DNA sample. The court found Marsh-Backs indigent and waived legal financial obligations.