Defense counsel argued Janisch had the firearms because he was a “collector,” but the judge said, “If he’s just a collector, why did he need the thousands of rounds of ammunition?”
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A Mercer Island, Washington, man has been sentenced to six years in federal prison after authorities tied him to a drug trafficking scheme involving cocaine, psychedelics, illicit proceeds, and an arsenal of weapons, including Glock “switches” and 3D-printed firearms.
Michael Janisch, 27, was sentenced in US District Court in Seattle after pleading guilty on January 20, 2026, to possession of controlled substances with intent to distribute and possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime.
At sentencing, US District Judge John H. Chun said, “The involvement of firearms (with the drugs) compounds the risk to the community.”
Federal prosecutors said Janisch used social media and a suburban rental home to prepare drug shipments that were mailed to customers across the country. “This case demonstrates that even those from an advantaged background can be lured into the drug trade and the gun violence that goes with it,” said First Assistant US Attorney Neil Floyd. “This defendant used social media and his suburban rental house to prepare drug shipments that he mailed to drug customers across the country. Janisch engaged in his drug trafficking while armed with an arsenal of more than thirty weapons, Glock switches (used to convert Glock-style firearms to fire automatically), and scores of high-capacity magazines, and thousands of rounds of ammunition.”
Janisch was arrested in October 2024 alongside 13 others following a yearslong investigation. Authorities said Snapchat messages showed Janisch and associate Bryce Hill discussing drug profits. Hill was later arrested in a separate Western District of Pennsylvania case and is now serving a 35-year sentence for drug trafficking. Prosecutors said Janisch continued dealing drugs even after Hill’s arrest and after coconspirator Amir “Lethal” Osman was fatally shot outside a University District drug house in Seattle on June 24, 2024.
When Janisch was arrested on October 30, 2024, authorities found more than four kilos of cocaine, 60 pounds of psilocybin mushrooms and/or marijuana, dealer amounts of MDMA, ketamine, and LSD, and 30 firearms. The weapons included assault-style semiautomatic firearms, suppressors, thousands of rounds of ammunition, and Glock switches.
Defense counsel argued Janisch had the firearms because he was a “collector.” Judge Chun said, “I find these dangerous weapons alarming…. If he’s just a collector, why did he need the thousands of rounds of ammunition?”
Prosecutors had asked for an eight-year sentence, writing, “Janisch engaged in the trafficking of MDMA, ketamine, LSD, psilocybin mushrooms, and marijuana on such a scale that it netted him hundreds of thousands of dollars in drug proceeds…. Janisch’s scheme was more sophisticated than many, as he largely took drug orders via social media, packaged the drugs for shipment at his house, and co-opted the US mail service and other parcel services to deliver his product. Plus, Janisch did not just traffic drugs. He did so while possessing an arsenal of semiautomatic rifles and pistols…”
Janisch was also ordered to serve three years of supervised release after his prison term.
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