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The 33rd Alaska State Legislature came to a shuddering but active end early Thursday morning as lawmakers passed the state’s annual budget and a series of high-profile bills addressing crime, climate change, the looming Cook Inlet energy crunch, and problems with the state’s correspondence education programs. “I think it was a great session,” said Speaker of the House Cathy Tilton, R-Wasilla. “We’ve taken care of energy … we were able to take care of the correspondence folks. And we had a great crime bill that we passed. So I think it was... Full story
The Ketchikan Police Department and Alaska State Troopers have announced the seizure of fentanyl and methamphetamine with a total street value of nearly $1.7 million. Tuesday's seizure by troopers and KPD drug investigators involved about 14,938 "counterfeit pills containing fentanyl" and about 1.8 pounds of methamphetamine, according to information contained in a troopers dispatch and a separate KPD social media post published early Wednesday afternoon. The KPD post indicated that the alleged pills weighed about 3.29 pounds. As of mid...
An investigation by the Southeast Alaska Cities Against Drugs task force (SEACAD) led to the indictment and arrest of six Petersburg residents last week. A press release from the Juneau Police Department reported that a Juneau Grand Jury indicted Petersburg residents Palmer Thomassen Jr., Gabriel Volk, Dazzlin Frentz, Edward Rayborn, Amanda Loucks, and Austin Strickland on Oct. 26, 2023 for various counts of Misconduct Involving a Controlled Substance in the Second and in the Third Degree....
The Southeast Alaska Cities Against Drugs Task Force (SEACAD) conducted an operation during the week of April 17 which saw an estimated $177,400 worth of illegal narcotics seized in Petersburg according to Petersburg Police Chief James Kerr. The narcotics seized by SEACAD include crack cocaine, fentanyl, heroin, methamphetamine, and others. The SEACAD Task Force is a collaboration between the police departments in Southeast, the Alaska State Troopers, and federal law enforcement agencies which...
A Petersburg man faces 11 counts of drug and weapons misconduct as well as a fugitive from justice charge from Colorado. At an arraignment on Sept. 1 in Petersburg District Court, Jonathan D. Mazzella, 30, faced the fugitive from justice charge and was charged with 11 more counts at a hearing two days later. The District Attorney told the court at the first arraignment that Mazzella had prior drug convictions in Washington and Colorado. Mazzella was charged with: 2 counts of misconduct...
Roderick Mathew Vasquez, 29, was arraigned on two counts of misconduct involving a controlled substance in the 2nd and 3rd degrees. He entered not guilty pleas to both counts in Petersburg District Court on Tuesday. According to a probable cause statement from the Petersburg Police Department, Vasquez traveled to Juneau on August 18 and returned to Petersburg the following day. On the following day a citizen reported to police that two males traveling with Vasquez showed signs of being "high"...
Breeann Spring Dawe pleaded guilty to a reduced charge of misconduct involving a controlled substance in the third degree and the court entered a suspended imposition of sentence for 30 months. The defendant will remain on probation during that time according to the terms of the plea agreement. The court sentenced her to 80 hours community work service, assessed surcharges of $300 and the $250 for cost of counsel. Dawe was arrested in July 2020 after authorities placed a GPS tracking device in...
January The National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration proposed establishing critical habitat areas for humpback whales in three distinct population segments located off Mexico, Central American and the Western Pacific. The Petersburg Borough sent a letter of disapproval to the National Marine Fisheries Service regarding the proposed critical habitat for humpback whales after residents spoke out against the proposal. The Petersburg Borough authorized the hire of Josh Rathmann to fill the...
Three local residents were arrested when a GPS placed in a package with controlled substances led authorities to them on July 1. Aaron W. Bradford, Breann S. Dawe and Samuel W. Nelson IV all face two charges of misconduct involving a controlled substance in the second degree, a class A felony, one charge of misconduct involving a controlled substance in the third degree, a class B felony, and one charge of tampering with physical evidence, a class C felony, according to court documents. On June...
Carter Gueller was found guilty of misconduct involving a controlled substance in the second degree and was sentenced to five years behind bars on Monday by Superior Court Judge Trevor Stephens. Gueller was first arrested in September after authorities served a search warrant at his residence and found distribution quantities of heroin and methamphetamine that had a street value of about $61,670, according to police. He was charged with misconduct involving a controlled substance in the second d...
Lloyd Bennett, 51, was indicted by a Grand Jury on Tuesday on one count of misconduct involving a controlled substance in the third degree, which is a class B felony. On Monday, United States Postal Inspector Kevin Horne intercepted a priority mail package that was addressed to Bennett, according to a complaint filed at the Petersburg Courthouse. Inside the package, Horne found about 85 grams of methamphetamine. Later that day, the package was delivered to the Petersburg Post Office and was...
In coordination with Southeast Alaska Communities Against Drugs, the Petersburg Police Department conducted a controlled delivery in town that resulted in the seizure of 114 grams of methamphetamine. According to Police Chief Jim Kerr, the case is still under investigation, so details of the bust can't be released at this time. He said search warrants have been filed and charges are pending against the individuals involved. As a part of SEACAD Petersburg works with officials throughout the...
Garitt Johnston, 30, was indicted by a Grand Jury on Nov. 21 for his involvement with Eric Jennings, who had received a package with heroin, methamphetamine and gamma-hydroxybutyric acid (GHB) in it on Nov. 9. Johnston was indicted on one count of aiding or abetting the manufacturing or delivery of a schedule IA controlled substance with intent to manufacture or deliver and one count of aiding or abetting the possession with intent to manufacture or deliver any amount of a schedule IIA or IIIA...
A Grand Jury indicted Eric Jennings, 39, on three of the five counts set before them on Nov. 14. Jennings was indicted on misconduct involving a controlled substance in the fourth degree, tampering with physical evidence and criminal mischief in the third degree. The two other counts, misconduct involving a controlled substance in the second degree and misconduct involving a controlled substance in the third degree, were withdrawn. On Nov. 7, Kevin Home, a United States postal inspector,...
The Petersburg Police Department served search warrants at 410 Mitkof Highway at approximately 3:50 P.M. on Tuesday, Sept. 10 and found distribution quantities of heroin and methamphetamine with a combined street value of approximately $61,670, according to police. Carter Gueller, 30, was arrested and booked into the Petersburg jail on charges of misconduct involving a controlled substance in the second degree, a class A felony, misconduct involving a controlled substance in the third degree, a... Full story
Anchorage, Alaska (KINY) - A Petersburg man received 21 months in federal prison and five years of supervised release for a methamphetamine case. Assistant US Attorney Jack Schmidt said Randal Long, 55, pled guilty to drug charges at a hearing in Anchorage Friday. Long was arrested in 2017 by Petersburg Police after they found 126 grams of methamphetamines inside a trailer he was renovating. Authorities also seized $5,000 in suspected drug cash and various items of drug paraphernalia. The...
Helen Olson was found guilty, and Carlos Sandoval was found not guilty on single counts of Misconduct Involving a Controlled Substance in the 2nd degree. The jury delivered their verdict following a 4-day trial on May 24. Charges against Sandoval were dismissed and Judge Carey set August 27 as the sentencing date for Olson. Olson was released on bail. The prosecution alleged that Olson received a package containing 51 grams of methamphetamine that had a street value of $200/gram in Petersburg,...
KETCHIKAN, Alaska (AP)— A rural southeast Alaska man suspected of carrying methamphetamine was arrested at the Ketchikan airport. Alaska State Troopers say 50-year-old Stanley Lynch of Hollis was carrying 159 grams of meth when he was arrested at about 5 p.m. Friday. Hollis is a village on the east side of Prince of Wales Island. Troopers say the street value in Ketchikan of the seized methamphetamine is about $50,000. Troopers contacted Lynch with the assistance of a drug dog. Troopers say Lynch tried to discard the drugs when he was c...
January The borough assembly received a proposed update to its zoning code that would introduce a new form of affordable housing, an expansion of the historical and industrial districts and the end of a requirement for businesses to include parking downtown. The borough assembly held a work session to discuss a plan to impose restrictions on the senior tax exemption. A possible annual fee to sales tax exemption card holders was agreed upon ranging between $50 and $60. Police Chief Kelly Swihart...
Police seized items from a residence in Petersburg last week that are consistent with the manufacture and distribution of methamphetamine, according to a release from the department. Last Thursday and Friday, Petersburg officers served multiple search warrants at a residence on Cornelius Road, and “another location,” according to the release. Officers seized glassware, listed chemicals, materials used to package controlled substances for distribution and other suspicious substances, which will be submitted for official identification. The sus...
Two Petersburg residents are facing controlled substance charges after they allegedly coordinated the shipment of methamphetamine from Mexico to Mitkof Island. Carlos Sandoval, 53, and Helen Olson, 49, appeared before Petersburg Magistrate Judge Desiree Burrell for a felony first hearing on Wednesday afternoon. They were each charged with one count of second degree Misconduct Involving a Controlled Substance. According to court filings, police were told Sandoval had traveled to Mexico to obtain...
Police this week seized items from a residence in Petersburg that are consistent with the manufacture and distribution of methamphetamine, according to a release from the department. On Thursday and Friday, Petersburg officers served multiple search warrants at a residence on Cornelius Road, and “another location,” according to the release. Officers seized glassware, listed chemicals, materials used to package controlled substances for distribution and other suspicious substances, which will be submitted for official identification. The sus... Full story
ANCHORAGE, Alaska (AP) — The synthetic opioid fentanyl is an escalating problem in Alaska, and it’s leading to a significant increase in deaths, state authorities said Tuesday. “It is a scary problem,” Alaska State Trooper Capt. Michael Duxbury said at a press briefing on the state’s opioid crisis. “Fentanyl is by far the biggest concern.” Jay Butler, the state’s chief medical officer, said 2017 statistics have not been finalized, but there were at least two dozen fentanyl-related deaths, compared with five or six such deaths the previous year....
January The Borough assembly started approval of a program called Local Improvement Districts, which asks Petersburg residents whether they would pay for road work in their neighborhoods. The Petersburg School Board discussed the possible loss of federal funding through a program called Secure Rural Schools. The school district reported a case of a Pertussis, or whooping cough, confirmed in Petersburg. Superintendent Erica Kludt-Painter said it was not a public health emergency. An engineer led...
JUNEAU, Alaska (AP) — Owners of Juneau's condemned Bergmann Hotel have put the historic building up for sale, days after its former manager was arrested on suspicion of distributing methamphetamine. Breffni Place Properties announced on Sunday it will attempt to sell the hotel as well as two other nearby houses that have been the subject of police raids, the Juneau Empire reported . Dave D'amato, who has power of attorney for the Barrett family, which owns the hotel, said the low-income residents of the hotel were causing problems in the s...
