PORTLAND — A federal judge said Tuesday that the 15 years in prison she was imposing on a Peru woman who trafficked in methamphetamine while carrying a gun “seems excessive,” but was bound by federal law.
They were the federal minimum sentences for those felony charges.
Once Shorey is released from prison, she will be on supervised release for five years.
Shorey, who has been free on bond, must surrender to federal custody Nov. 6. to start serving her sentence.
Between July 2022 and January 2023, Shorey sold a total of roughly 1.5 kilograms of methamphetamine to an undercover officer across four controlled buys, according to Assistant U.S. Attorney Noah Falk.
For three of the buys, which were conducted in Portland, the purity of the methamphetamine Shorey sold to police approached was nearly 100%, he said.
During one of the buys, Shorey explained that she carried a firearm with her for protection when she met with new drug customers and removed the firearm from a bag and placed it in her waistband, Falk said.
During another exchange, she told the undercover officer that meeting her to conduct their next transaction would be safe because she would “bring one armed man to back me up that they will never see, just in case.”
When Shorey was arrested, she had a .22-caliber revolver with her.
Friends, members of her family and people she met during substance abuse rehabilitation filled several benches of the gallery.
Some spoke, telling the judge that Shorey was a kind, caring and protective mother and a hard worker. They said she had been a solid citizen until she was seized by the grip of illicit drugs, which drove her to embark on the uncharacteristic course of conduct involving selling methamphetamine.
Falk, who had recommended a total sentence of 16 years and three months for Shorey, said she had been a “substantial drug dealer for a significant period of time.”
He cited methamphetamine overdose statistics, saying, “This is really deadly stuff.”
Shorey’s attorney, Cory McKenna, said that since her arrest, his client had enrolled in drug rehabilitation programs that have changed the course of her life.
She was released from custody and was able to live on her own while awaiting sentencing, an occurrence he said was rare.
Shorey had “taken the harder path,” by choosing to reform rather than give up on sobriety.
Speaking directly to the judge, Shorey said she was “humbly aware of the gravity of my situation” and the “mess I have made.”
She said she blamed no one but herself for her criminal conduct and the “profound negative impact” it had on her family and the community.
Getting sober was “one of the hardest things I have ever done,” she said.
Rather than simply bide her time in prison, waiting for her release, Shorey said she planned instead to chart a new course and take advantage of any opportunities that present themselves.
“Actions, not intentions, define a person,” she said, and referred to the “rather poor choices I have made.”
She said she was looking forward to “reversing the damage I have caused.”
Judge Torresen remarked on the ravages of methamphetamine, noting it “destroys families” and “destroys brains.”
Torresen praised Shorey for her successful efforts at drug rehabilitation.
“I look at you and I shake my head,” she said.
Torresen explained to Shorey the mandatory minimum sentences she was compelled to impose, adding, “That seems excessive to me, but there’s nothing I can do about that.”
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