Source: The Herald Everett, WA 
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Pubdate: Fri, 3 Oct 1997

Local News

Everett ban for suspected trafficker 
By SCOTT NORTH 
Herald Writer 

EVERETT  A suspected drug trafficker has been banned from part of the
city's downtown once he is released from prison.

Dion K. Humphrey, 29, was sentenced to 18 months behind bars Thursday. As
part of the sentence, Snohomish County Superior Court Judge James
Allendoerfer also ordered him to stay away from the Everett's downtown
transit center at Hewitt and Hoyt avenues for a full year after his release
from prison.

Humphrey, of Bellingham, was convicted in August of delivery of a substance
in lieu of a controlled substance, a felony.

He was arrested June 2 after Everett police spotted him engaged in what
they believed was a crack cocaine deal while he sat on the benches at the
bus center.

The arresting officers included Deputy Chief Patric Slack and some of the
department's other top brass. They had been eating lunch across the street
at the time.

Tests later showed the suspected crack was actually an overthecounter
pain reliever altered to appear like rocks of cocaine.

Humphrey's attorney, public defender Chad Dold, said his client likely
would not have faced felony charges were it not for the Everett Police
Department's highprofile attempts over the past year to crack down on
street crime.

He also said Humphrey, who has five prior felony convictions, suffers from
mental disorders that over the years have put him into regular
confrontations with police.

Deputy prosecutor William Joice said police noticed a drop in streetlevel
drug activity after Humphrey's arrest, and that officers wanted the judge
to effectively ban Humphrey from much of Everett's downtown area.

Allendoerfer granted the request in part, banning Humphrey only from the
area around the city's downtown transit center.

The city earlier this year designated several areas as being "Protected
Against Drug Trafficking," including downtown, north Broadway and south
Evergreen Way.

The city hopes to seek court orders that will keep convicted drug offenders
out of those areas in the future, or risk arrest on sight.

Copyright © 1997 The Daily Herald Co.