SPOKANE, WA – A Spokane man has been sentenced to 20 years in federal prison for trafficking fentanyl and methamphetamine and illegally possessing a firearm.

According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Eastern District of Washington, 40-year-old Charles Michael McClain was found guilty on May 6, 2025, following a jury trial. U.S. District Judge Thomas O. Rice imposed the sentence.

Court records show that in early 2024, the Quad Cities Drug Task Force identified McClain as a supplier of fentanyl pills, fentanyl powder, and methamphetamine to dealers in the Clarkston, Washington, area. On May 6, 2024, agents executed a search warrant at his Riverton Avenue apartment in Spokane. They seized drug paraphernalia, methamphetamine, fentanyl powder, 359 fentanyl pills, approximately $18,000 in cash, and a firearm found under McClain’s pillow.

Investigators say McClain admitted to purchasing about 10,000 fentanyl pills and 10 ounces of fentanyl powder each month for roughly a year. He was preparing to make another purchase on the day of the search.

McClain had a prior conviction in Washington state for delivery of a controlled substance, for which he served 84 months in prison.

U.S. Attorney Pete Serrano emphasized the priority of prosecuting drug trafficking cases to protect Eastern Washington communities, while FBI Special Agent in Charge Mehtab Syed described the combination of drug trafficking and illegal firearm possession as “a deadly combination” that endangers public safety.

The FBI and the Quad Cities Drug Task Force, which includes the Lewiston Police Department, Clarkston Police Department, and Whitman County Sheriff’s Office, investigated the case. It was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Rebecca R. Perez.