Forks man sentenced to prison after drug conviction

PORT ANGELES — A Forks man has been sentenced to more than five years in prison for heroin possession with intent to deliver, pending an appeal.

Tommy L. Cook Sr., 68, was sentenced Tuesday to 64 months confinement plus one year of community custody. He was convicted Nov. 28 after a three-day jury trial in Clallam County Superior Court.

On Tuesday, his attorney, Karen Unger, filed a motion to set bail pending an appeal of the conviction and sentence to the Court of Appeals, Division II.

Superior Court Judge Erik Rohrer had granted Unger’s request for a 48-hour delay to surrender, ordering Cook to report to the Clallam County jail at 10 a.m. Thursday, according to the minutes of the sentencing hearing.

Arguments on the motion to set bail will be heard at 9 a.m. today, Clallam County Deputy Prosecuting Attorney April King said.

Based on Cook’s criminal history, the total standard sentencing range was 44 months to 84 months, according to the felony judgment and sentence document.

Cook had several drug possession and theft convictions dating back to 1994, court papers said.

Cook was arrested with his son, Tommy Cook Jr., on his Forks property June 28.

The Olympic Peninsula Narcotics Enforcement Team developed probable cause that Tommy Cook Jr. had been selling heroin for cash from his motor home on the property on the 800 block of South G Street and trading it for benzodiazepines, court papers said.

OPNET obtained a search warrant to look for drugs and packaging equipment in Tommy Cook Sr.’s residence. They found more than 64 grams of suspected heroin in four baggies and two containers, $2,750 in cash and two sets of digital scales, Detective Jeff Pickrell said in the affidavit for probable cause.

Sixty-four grams is about 2.25 ounces.

The jury found in a special verdict that Tommy Cook Sr. had possessed and intended to deliver heroin within 1,000 feet of a school bus stop.

Tommy Cook Sr. said he was only a heroin addict and not a dealer and claimed that the heroin found in his home was his son’s, the Clallam County Sheriff’s Office said.

Tommy Cook Jr. is awaiting a Jan. 28 trial on two counts of delivery of heroin, second-degree unlawful possession of a firearm and bail jumping.

OPNET found tin foil with suspected heroin residue, digital scales and a semi-automatic pistol in Tommy Cook Jr.’s motor home, Pickrell said.

Tommy Cook Jr. posted a $200,000 bail bond July 2. He was arrested at the Klahowya Campground after a three-hour standoff July 13. He was being held Tuesday in the Clallam County jail on $500,000 bail.

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Reporter Rob Ollikainen can be reached at 360-452-2345, ext. 56450, or at rollikainen@peninsuladailynews.com.

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