Pierce County attorney, elected official charged with smuggling drugs to prison inmates

West Pierce Fire Commissioner and Pierce County public defender John M. Sheeran, 60, was charged Monday with allegedly smuggling drugs to clients at a King County jail, according to a Justice Department news release.

Sheeran's charges include “conspiracy to distribute controlled substances, possession and distribution of methamphetamine, distribution of buprenorphine and illegal use of a communications facility,” the release said.

According to the indictment, he used his position as an attorney to provide drugs, including methamphetamine, ketamine, buprenorphine and THC, to two of his clients, who were then inmates at the King County Correctional Facility in Seattle.

“During the conspiracy, Sheeran distributed, or possessed with the intent to distribute, drug-laced leaves, chewing tobacco cans in which the tobacco was substituted with drugs, and trial clothing in which drugs were concealed in the soles of his shoes,” the statement said Press release. “After Sheeran successfully smuggled the drugs into KCCF, Sheeran’s co-conspirators sold the drugs to other inmates for significant sums.”

A federal grand jury in Seattle indicted Sheeran and four others on October 16. He was arrested without incident Monday and appeared in federal court that day, where he pleaded not guilty and was released pending a jury trial scheduled to begin Dec. 20.

One of Sheeran's alleged co-conspirators, inmate Michael Anthony Barquet, was involved in a previous case of bribery and conspiracy to distribute controlled substances. Former King County Jailer Mosses Ramos was sentenced to 102 months in prison on Oct. 11 for bribery and supplying methamphetamine and fentanyl to two inmates, including Barquet, The News Tribune reported.

Sheeran worked in the Pierce County Prosecutor's Office for more than two decades before moving into private practice. He prosecuted numerous crimes and rose to become chief counsel and head of the criminal division to elected District Attorney Mark Lindquist, who served from 2009 to 2019.

More recently, Sheeran first represented Sheriff Ed Troyer in 2021 in connection with charges related to Troyer's confrontation with a Black newspaper publisher. Sheeran later withdrew from the case when he changed law firms, The News Tribune previously reported. Troyer was ultimately acquitted at trial.

Sheeran ran for a Pierce County District Court seat in 2018 but lost to Karl Williams. He was elected West Pierce Fire & Rescue Commissioner in 2019. His term is scheduled to end in 2025, according to the fire district's website.

The News Tribune left a voicemail and email to Sheeran's attorney seeking comment Tuesday evening but did not immediately receive a response.

Casey Arbenz, managing partner of Puget Law Group, told The News Tribune by phone Tuesday that Sheeran had resigned from Puget Law Group.

“Nobody at Puget Law Group knew anything about it. . . “We support John and hope he has not pleaded guilty. We trust that the process will come to an end and we hope that he will be exonerated,” said Arbenz.

Arbenz said that before joining Puget Law Group, Sheeran represented several people who were public defender clients and were affiliated with the firm. No one else in the office worked on these cases or had contact with these defendants, he said.

Allegations in the indictment

The indictment makes the following allegations about the incident:

“Sheeran used his status as an attorney to smuggle drugs to two of his clients at the facility,” the indictment says. He allegedly got the drugs from someone a third inmate, Barquet, knew and trusted outside of prison.

The external source is also among the accused.

The inmates allegedly sold the drugs to others in the facility and used coded voice in phone calls from prison to the outside source to arrange the smuggling.

The indictment alleges the group agreed to do this in a way that would allow Sheeran to “plausibly deny” knowledge of the drugs. For example, the drug-laced papers could be smuggled in as legal papers.

During a call, Barquet allegedly told the outside source that they could sell each newspaper for $4,800.

It was December 5, 2022, when Sheeran met the outside source in Burien “to pick up approximately 17 sheets of paper soaked in methamphetamine and approximately two sheets of paper soaked in ketamine,” the indictment says.

Sheeran reportedly handed over these papers two days later.

Later that month, Barquet allegedly told the outside source during a video call to investigate how to reseal a can of chewing tobacco after putting drugs in it.

It was Jan. 3, 2023, when Sheeran met the outside source in Burien and picked up two cans of tobacco with methamphetamine in them and 12 additional sheets of paper soaked in methamphetamine, the indictment says.

He allegedly delivered the newspaper on January 18, 2023 and a can on January 21. The outside source and Barquet later “laughed during a phone call” about how poorly the can had been resealed and that Sheeran had delivered it “even though that wasn't the case.” appear legitimate,” the indictment says.

Sheeran is said to have delivered the second can on February 21, 2023.

This month, in a video call, the outside source also showed two of the inmates a hidden compartment in a shoe and talked about using it to smuggle drugs into the facility, the indictment says.

Sheeran allegedly met the outside source in Burien and took two additional doses of methamphetamine and two pairs of trial clothing on March 19, 2023, with approximately 52.6 grams of methamphetamine hidden in his shoes.

A correctional officer confiscated the drugs in the shoes that same day.

One of the inmates told the outside source in a phone call that Sheeran said not to talk to anyone about the drugs in the shoes and that Sheeran would talk to the source “later about the seizure,” the indictment says.

Later, one of the inmates told the source that if anyone asked, she should say that someone else gave her the shoes to give to Sheeran.

It was on April 20, 2023, during a video call, that the outside source and Barquet allegedly decided that Sheeran had to return or pay for the two tobacco tins of drugs that he had not delivered.

Sheeran met the source at a convenience store in Burien on May 15, 2023 and “distributed two doses of chewing tobacco containing an unknown amount of methamphetamine, an unknown amount of THC and an unknown number of Suboxone strips” to the source. says the indictment.

He allegedly asked her if anyone from the courthouse had contacted her.

The next day, the source posted a message saying she was holding the camera during a video call with Barquet when the sound wasn't working.

The photo of the message in the indictment appears to read in part: “The old man returned these two things.”

Sheeran's time as a prosecutor

The Washington State Bar Association shows that Sheeran began practicing law in Washington in 1996. There is no record of disciplinary action against him, attorney filings show. Sheeran served on the Executive Committee of the Law Society's Criminal Law Section from 2014 to 2018, including as Secretary/Treasurer in 2017-19.

In a 2009 trial filed by Sheeran, the convictions were overturned by the Washington State Supreme Court because of his courtroom behavior, The News Tribune previously reported.

The Supreme Court wrote in that decision: “In his closing arguments, the prosecutor denigrated defense counsel, misrepresented the burden of proof, expressed his personal belief in a defendant's truthfulness, and whispered to the jury so that no one else would. “The courtroom could hear him.”

When Sheeran addressed this case in 2018 during his run for judge, he said: “Ten years ago I was involved in a trial that lasted much longer than it should have. I became very frustrated that justice was not being served… and I lost my temper.”

Sheeran said he gave lectures to the state bar association and the state attorney general's office at the time to try to teach others how to avoid similar mistakes.

Information from the News Tribune archives is included in this report.

Editor's note: An earlier version of this story incorrectly named Sheeran's alleged co-conspirator, who was involved in a lawsuit earlier this year. The alleged co-conspirator is Michael Anthony Barquet.