A 36-year-old man who exchanged gunfire with police nearly three years ago in downtown Spokane was sentenced Thursday to 20 years in federal prison for the drug-related shootout.

Israel Garcia, a gang member in the Yakima area, came to Spokane Oct. 16, 2022, to deliver 10,000 fentanyl pills, according to a news release from Eastern Washington’s U.S. Attorney’s Office.

Members of the Spokane Police Department’s Special Investigations Unit, Violent Crimes Task Force and SWAT and federal agents from the Drug Enforcement Administration had planned to intercept an incoming major narcotics delivery that day, according to a Spokane County news release last year.

Late that morning, a black Chrysler 300 pulled in front of an apartment building on First Avenue and Cedar Street. Garcia, whose iden

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