Law enforcement officials arrested Boys & Girls Club of King County’s SE Network SafetyNet’s Executive Director Matelita “Marty” Jackson on Wednesday for possible connection to a multi-state drug trafficking conspiracy. From the indictment, Jackson’s son appears to head up a drug trafficking operation. The indictment charges Jackson with allegedly conspiring to commit money laundering.

Law enforcement arrested 17 people connected to the alleged drug trafficking conspiracy, including Jackson’s son, Marquis Jackson, 31, who supposedly headed the operation, and who splits his time between his parent’s home in Renton, WA and Atlanta, Georgia, according to a press release from the the Office of the US Attorney for the Western District of Washington. The drug trafficking operation had connections to people in Georgia, Missouri, Texas, Arizona, and Washington. Ten of the 13 defendants arrested in Washington remain at the Federal Detention Center at SeaTac, though three were released in place of bond, including Marty Jackson.

Jayme Hommer, chief development officer of Boys & Girls Clubs of King County, said the club fired Jackson and is launching an internal investigation.

Community Passageways CEO Dominique Davis said he’d talked to Jackson and she was comfortable with him speaking on her behalf. Davis said the community supports her and believes she had nothing to do with these accusations. He emphasized that she’d been released, unlike some of the other alleged co-conspirators in the case, and she was actively working to get her information together to be able to show her innocence. Meanwhile, Davis said he was working diligently to make sure the SE Network SafetyNet and Safe Passage programs can continue on while Jackson navigates the legal system.

“When you and your whole family grow up in the same city, in Seattle, we’re always going to be three degrees of separation from the good and bad things that happen in this community,” Davis said. “We’re grounded in these communities, that are suffering, and in survival mode, and our job is to pull them out of survival mode. She helps people do that. She helps the community.”

The arrests come after law enforcement officials led a two-year investigation into a drug trafficking ring that prosecutors believe had a connection to four fatal fentanyl overdoses on the Lummi Nation reservation in Whatcom County, according to the press release.

SE Network SafetyNet recently signed a memorandum of understanding with the Seattle Public Schools (SPS) to provide violence interrupters at Rainier Beach High School, and the City of Seattle had agreed to provide funding for additional case managers at the high school as well through the organization. 

Mayor Bruce Harrell’s spokesperson Jamie Housen said in an emailed statement Thursday that they’ve reached out to the Boys and Girls Clubs of King County to learn more about their next steps and figure out what the allegations mean for the SE Network. Housen said while the legal process plays out, the news of the charges against Jackson may have broader consequences for people doing violence intervention. “Mayor Harrell strongly believes in violence interruption and credible messengers as vital elements of a holistic public safety approach to protect youth and prevent and disrupt gun violence,” Housen said. “We remain committed to supporting the organizations—and people—who are doing this work on the ground to help save lives.”

Since 2015, the city’s contracts with service providers have included safeguards and reporting requirements to prevent financial crimes. Housen said the Mayor’s Office plans to double check that SE Network is in compliance with these policies.

Neither the Boys & Girls Club of King County nor SPS immediately responded to a request for comment.   

This is a developing story.

Ashley Nerbovig is a staff writer at The Stranger covering policing, incarceration and courts. She is like other girls.

5 replies on “SE Network SafetyNet Executive Director Marty Jackson Arrested Yesterday, Released on Bond”

  1. What a shitty situation. I don’t know what’s worse – being deceived by your own child into money laundering or knowingly betraying community trust as a professed protector of children (Jesus, let’s hope there’s a sliver of something positive to come).

  2. Wednesday: The Stranger writes an article demanding that funding to SPD be reduced and provided to other organizations because they’re a better use of public $.

    Thursday: the leader of one of the organizations The Stranger references in the article and wants to be funded from $ diverted away from SPD turns out to be an integral part of a large scale criminal enterprise.

    The lesson, as always, is if you are trying to make serious public policy decisions in Seattle, never, ever, listen to The Stranger.

  3. @1, @2: We should look on the bright side — the Stranger has finally found a case to report where the Stranger clearly describes the accused as innocent unless proven guilty. As we all know, that’s a huge change from their standard operating procedure.

    Speaking of that, will the Stranger now publish a recurring “Bad Oranges” column, about the alleged misbehaviors of persons who take money from the city for social services? 😉

  4. 3- Personally I am SHOCKED the Stranger chose to report this at all. This is precisely the sort of story the Stranger serially buried in a concrete vault 2 miles below the bottom of the ocean floor.

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