A Coupeville man who had been facing 10 charges, including drive-by shooting, in three different Island County Superior Court cases was sent to prison for eight years after agreeing to a deal that resolved all the charges.
Codie Burley, 25, has been in jail since being arrested by the Snohomish County Violent Offender Task Force in March after spending a few weeks on the lam.
On Wednesday, Burley pleaded guilty to possession of methamphetamine with intent to deliver, unlawful possession of a firearm in the second degree, attempting to elude a pursuing police vehicle, assault in the third degree and criminal impersonation in the first degree. The drug charge had a deadly weapon enhancement that added a year to the sentence.
As part of the plea bargain, the drive-by shooting charge and several other charges against Burley were dismissed.
In court, Chief Criminal Deputy Prosecutor Eric Ohme discussed how he had prosecuted Burley for an earlier drug-fueled crime spree. But after Burley got out of prison, Ohme spoke to law enforcement officers who said he was doing well and keeping a job.
But then Burley returned to drugs and everything went sideways, Ohme indicated. He said he hopes Burley stays clean after he gets out of prison and stays out of court.
Judge pro tem Vickie Churchill told Burley that he’s still young and has time to turn his life around. She agreed with the sentence recommendation worked out by the prosecution and defense and sentenced Burley to eight years in prison.
The task force started pursuing Burley after a Feb. 16 incident at a Greenbank residence in which he was accused of firing a semiautomatic weapon during an altercation, according to court papers.
Prior to that, Burley led a deputy on a wild and lengthy chase through Oak Harbor on the night of Nov. 17, 2020. Burley drove at high speeds, ran multiple stop signs and drove through the front yard of a residence.
At one point during the car chase, Burley’s Audi drove straight at the patrol car without lights on and nearly collided with it. Later, Burley braked heavily in an attempt to get the deputy to rear-end him and then tried to run the patrol car off the road, the deputy’s report states. Burley ran out of the vehicle at a dead-end street, leaving his girlfriend behind, and police were unable to find him in a wooded area.
The task force caught up with Burley on March 12 and pulled his van over on Arnold Road. Burley tried to flee on foot, leaving his girlfriend behind again, but was tackled by a deputy. A handgun, 15 ounces of methamphetamine and large amount of cash were found inside the vehicle, a deputy’s report states.
