A Marysville woman was sentenced to prison Thursday, three years after an investigation unveiled a drug trafficking operation involving her Lake Stevens restaurant of which she and her husband are former co-owners. Laura Rodriguez-Moreno, 46, was sentenced to 10 years in prison for distributing methamphetamine, heroin and fentanyl. In her plea agreement, Rodriguez-Moreno admitted to distributing more than 35 pounds of meth and nearly two pounds of fentanyl pills. Rodriguez-Moreno was arrested in September 2020 after a months-long investigation found she played a leadership role in a large drug trafficking ring. Her husband, Jose Morales-Flores, 39, was sentenced to 10 years in prison in 2021 but has been on the run since. The U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration first suspected Rodriguez-Moreno and Morales-Flores were a part of the Peinado drug trafficking operation in the spring of 2020, and that they were distributing drugs out of their restaurant in Lake Stevens. During the investigation, law enforcement officers surveilled Rodriguez-Moreno as she directed her son to deliver 10 pounds of meth to a restaurant customer, days after her son was arrested with a large number of fentanyl pills. Rodriguez-Moreno was arrested in possession of more than 37 pounds of meth, more than four pounds of heroin, fentanyl pills, three firearms and more than $100,000 cash. “Ms. Rodriguez-Moreno was distributing pound quantities of methamphetamine and thousands of fentanyl pills. But what is most shocking is that she had her teenage son engaging in drug distribution at her direction,” said U.S. Attorney Nick Brown. “She and her husband put their restaurant and the security of their five children at risk when they became drug traffickers. Now those children are without their parents for a significant time.” The investigation, a part of the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces, was conducted by the DEA, Snohomish Regional Drug Task Force, Seattle Police Department, FBI and the Skagit Interlocal Drug Enforcement Unit. READ THE FULL STORY: https://www.king5.com/article/news/crime/woman-sentenced-drug-trafficking-operation-lake-stevens-restaurant/281-af6a9d77-7368-4920-affc-b35decee0bb1