A federal judge has suppressed evidence in the case against a man Multnomah County sheriff's detectives suspected of supplying fentanyl and methamphetamine to a Northeast Portland home, ruling that his newer car, nicer clothes and a weighted-looking backpack never added up to probable cause for an arrest. U.S. District Judge Amy M. Baggio suppressed evidence seized from 35-year-old Ricardo Olivas-Sentael's car and hotel room, as well as his statements, substantially affecting the prosecution's case roughly a year after his arrest.
Baggio's ruling found that Multnomah County sheriff's detectives never witnessed a drug transaction or a confirmed delivery to the home on Northeast 99th Avenue before arresting Olivas-Sentael on Sept. 5, 2025, according to The Oregonian/OregonLive. The judge acknowledged investigators may have had enough to seek a search warrant for the house, but she wrote that the evidence fell far short of justifying an arrest. Court records filed with the U.S. District Court show Olivas-Sentael was charged with conspiracy to distribute fentanyl and methamphetamine, along with separate possession-with-intent counts, and was ordered detained after his first appearance, according to a docket maintained on CourtListener.
Ten Stakeouts, No Witnessed Deals
According to the newspaper's account, investigators had staked out the home ten times between 2022 and 2025, spending 30 minutes to an hour on each surveillance session. Officers reported seeing many people arrive and leave the house, often carrying backpacks or bags and staying only briefly, but the report notes investigators never actually witnessed a hand-to-hand transaction or a confirmed drug delivery during any of those sessions.
Detective Jarrett Miller had received information that a Mexican drug-trafficking organization with a distribution hub in Seattle was supplying the home, and that the cartel used a red Toyota Camry, per information available to him, the outlet reported. But the detective had no information specifically tying Olivas-Sentael to the operation and had never seen or heard anything about the black Volkswagen Passat he was driving, the report states. Tips from police in California and sources in Oregon had suggested a resident of the home sold drugs supplied by the Seattle-based cartel, but those tips did not name Olivas-Sentael either.
Clothes, a Car and a Backpack
On Sept. 3, 2025, detectives watched Olivas-Sentael arrive at the home wearing clothes they described as cleaner and nicer than those of the suspected drug users they'd previously observed there. He was driving a newer car than those users, with Washington state plates, and his backpack appeared weighted when he walked in, according to the detectives' observations cited in the ruling. Minutes later, detectives said he left carrying a backpack that looked significantly lighter.
Sheriff's deputies and detectives then followed his Passat to a nearby Home Depot in North Portland, where he parked along the outskirts of the lot, away from the store entrance. Detectives boxed in the Passat with guns drawn and arrested him there, the report states. A detective later interviewed him through a Spanish-speaking interpreter service.
Judge Rejects Appearance-Based Reasoning
Assistant U.S. Attorney Scott Kerin argued that Detective Miller had probable cause to arrest Olivas-Sentael for conspiracy to distribute controlled substances and urged the court to weigh the detective's lengthy experience. But Baggio wasn't persuaded. She wrote that a Hispanic person, looking reasonably clean and well-kept, driving a decade-old vehicle with Washington plates, carrying a backpack and briefly visiting the home amounted to insufficient evidence to justify an arrest, the newspaper reported.
The judge specifically ruled that Olivas-Sentael's Hispanic heritage and Washington plates — his only apparent connections to the alleged trafficking organization beyond his presence at the house — were not enough on their own to establish probable cause. Baggio concluded that evidence seized during an unlawful search cannot be used as proof against the very person who was searched.
What Was Seized, and What Happens Next
After his arrest, detectives searched Olivas-Sentael's car and hotel room without warrants, seizing drugs and other evidence, the outlet reported. His backpack reportedly held about a third of a pound of fentanyl and $3,750 in cash, while his hotel room contained two digital scales and additional drugs. Because the underlying arrest was unlawful, Baggio ruled that everything pulled from the car and hotel room counted as fruit of that unlawful arrest and was subject to suppression — granting the motion to suppress filed by Assistant Federal Public Defender Anna Belesiotis.
Whether the government would appeal Baggio's ruling was unclear, while Belesiotis plans to file a motion seeking Olivas-Sentael's release. He remains in custody at Northern Oregon Regional Corrections in The Dalles. The trial was initially scheduled for Dec. 9, 2025.
The ruling adds to a string of recent decisions nationally scrutinizing how police build probable cause from circumstantial observation. A federal judge separately found that police use of Flock cameras to reconstruct a woman's travels amounted to an unconstitutional warrantless search when done without probable cause, according to The Washington Post.
