EVERETT — Percy Levy, a former inmate who became a community advocate, was arrested Thursday for allegedly trafficking fentanyl, cocaine and firearms.

Police arrested Levy on Thursday afternoon during a traffic stop in Everett after a 16-month investigation by the Snohomish County Regional Drug Task Force.

Around 6 p.m. Thursday, authorities obtained a warrant to search Levy’s Everett residence, where they located a loaded .38-caliber Cobra handgun hidden under a pillow, 2,818.9 grams of powder cocaine, 14.7 grams of rock cocaine and 556.1 grams of fentanyl, according to a probable cause statement.

One kilogram of fentanyl has the potential to kill 500,000 people, according to the U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration. The half kilogram of fentanyl recovered by police could kill about 278,000 people — more than the populations of Everett, Bellingham and Lynnwood combined.

His criminal record includes nine felony convictions, including burglary and unlawful firearm possession, according to police documents. Levy, 54, served nearly two decades behind bars for a drug house robbery before former governor Jay Inslee commuted Levy’s sentence in 2019.

Following his release, Levy became a community outreach specialist with the Redemption Project, a partnership between the Washington Defender Association and the Seattle Clemency Project, where he helped prisoners pursue re-sentencing in the aftermath of State v. Blake in 2021.

What became known as the “Blake decision” referred to a far-reaching state Supreme Court ruling that found a felony drug possession statute was unconstitutional because it “did not require intent, or knowledge of possession.” As a result, tens of thousands of cases were upended. In 2023, state lawmakers passed a bill reclassifying drug possession as a gross misdemeanor.

In October 2023, The Herald featured Levy in a story on the Blake decision, highlighting his transformation from inmate to reformer.

“Everybody’s path is different to change in there, it’s never like a light switch,” Levy told the Herald. “For most people, they just start recognizing things and talking to different people, then it just happens.”

On Feb. 8, 2024, four months after the story was published, the drug task force began investigating Levy after receiving information about large-scale drug trafficking linked to him, according to a probable cause statement.

Undercover detectives made contact with Levy that day, arranging a series of controlled buys over the following weeks, according to the affidavit. Surveillance teams tracked Levy’s movements between his Everett business, Redemption Auto Sales and various locations where fentanyl and cocaine were sold, police said. During one exchange on March 5, Levy allegedly facilitated the sale of two ounces of fentanyl powder and a stolen firearm to an undercover officer, according to police documents.

Levy is now facing multiple felony charges, including possession with intent to distribute fentanyl and cocaine and unlawful possession of a firearm. He remains in custody with bond set at $1.5 million.

Aspen Anderson: 425-339-3192; aspen.anderson@heraldnet.com; X: @aspenwanderson.