Dale Cramm jailed in drug sting

By Scott North

Herald Writer

EVERETT -- The father of an Everett teen who is serving 60 years in prison for deadly gunplay that ended two young lives, was back behind bars Friday for investigation of drug trafficking.

Dale Cramm, 45, was arrested Thursday in a Lynnwood parking lot after he allegedly tried to purchase an ounce of methamphetamine from an undercover detective, according to records obtained by The Herald.

A search of his truck also turned up small amounts of suspected cocaine, marijuana and morphine sulfate, documents show.

Cramm appeared briefly in Everett District Court on Friday, where Judge Roger Fisher ordered him jailed in lieu of $30,000 bail.

Cramm is on probation for a separate drug-related conviction last year. He's been ordered held without bail on that matter, pending a violation hearing early next week.

The man's son, Dennis Cramm, 18, earlier this year was convicted of two counts of first-degree murder in the May 30, 2000, shooting deaths of Jason Thompson and Jesse Stoner. The unarmed 18-year-olds died after a fistfight outside the Cramms' former south Everett home escalated into gunfire.

Dennis Cramm testified that his father had arranged for him to fight another teen to settle a drug-related dispute. The younger Cramm said he sold drugs with the support and assistance of his father.

Dale Cramm had been called to testify at his son's trial, but he instead exercised his Fifth Amendment privilege against self incrimination. After his son was convicted, the elder Cramm changed his mind and took the witness stand to say that his son had repeatedly fired an SKS semiautomatic rifle that night in an attempt to save his life.

The testimony did not, as Cramm's supporters had hoped, move Snohomish County Superior Court Judge Linda Krese to grant a new trial.

Dale Cramm's latest legal troubles emerged after Lynnwood police arrested a suspected methamphetamine dealer on Wednesday. They answered the man's cellular telephone when it rang.

On Thursday afternoon, a man who identified himself as Dale Cramm called repeatedly, trying to speak with the phone's owner, according to a police report that prosecutors relied on to establish probable cause for Cramm's bail.

Drug detectives agreed to meet with Dale Cramm after he allegedly said he wanted to buy "a zip" of methamphetamine for $525.

Cramm was short $10 when he showed up to the meeting, but he still walked away with a baggie filled with a substance simulating methamphetamine, according to documents.

The undercover detective wrote that he told Cramm that the next time they did business he should park his truck between the lines of the parking slots because police patrol the area and there was no reason to attract attention.

"He replied, 'It's all good,' and exited my vehicle," the detective wrote.

Police stopped Cramm's truck a short distance away and found a scale with apparent cocaine residue, some crushed tablets that police suspect are morphine sulfate and 4.2 grams of marijuana in the truck's glove box, documents indicate.

After being advised of his rights, Cramm allegedly admitted that he had planned to divide up the methamphetamine into smaller amounts for sale, the detective said.

Cramm served eight months in jail last year after pleading guilty to possessing marijuana with intent to sell and to possessing hallucinogenic mushrooms. The drugs were found in his home after the deaths of Thompson and Stoner.