Man Jailed for Dealing Fentanyl in Ephrata

A Lake Stevens man is in jail for dealing fentanyl in Grant County.

Members of the Interagency Narcotics Enforcement Team (INET) and Homeland Security Investigations assisted in taking 42-year-old Todd D. Howell into custody in Ephrata on Tuesday.

Grant County Sheriff's Office spokesperson Kyle Foreman says Howell had been under investigation for several weeks leading up to his arrest.

"The Ephrata Police Department started an investigation back in the early part of June after there was a death which was suspected to have been caused by fentanyl overdose. Ephrata Police then asked the INET detectives to assist them with that investigation."

The overdose Howell is suspected to have helped cause occurred on June 2.

Foreman says police used a sting operation to get Howell to return to Ephrata from the Westside.

"Detectives, in a rouse, coaxed Howell to come back over to Ephrata where he believed he would be selling 100 fentanyl pills to someone in the Ephrata area. When he got to the parking lot of the business where the arranged drop was to happen, he was met by Ephrata Police officers who took him into custody."

Howell was booked into the Grant County Jail for delivery of the fentanyl that INET members believe may have caused the overdose death earlier this month, as well as possession of fentanyl with intent to distribute and user amounts of suspected crystal methamphetamine.