This week, a sentence of eight years in prison was handed down to a Washington State man convicted of drug-related charges.
Roderick Ayers, 33, was sentenced for possession of methamphetamine with the intent to distribute after packing 10 ounces of methamphetamine in a box he shipped within a pallet of tires to Juneau, Alaska, in January 2018, according to a May 12 U.S. Department of Justice news release.
“Individuals like Ayers and the illicit drugs that are shipped to Alaska leave a trail of destruction in our communities and we will not idly standby and watch,” Lane Tucker, attorney in charge of the case, said in the news release. “Today’s sentence sends a message that we take drug trafficking crimes very seriously in Alaska and we will continue to vigorously prosecute traffickers, wherever they may live, for their illegal actions.”
The release reported the Juneau Police Department noticed a known local drug user was behaving strangely and trying to pick up the tire pallet sent by Ayers. Officers obtained a search warrant and found the box of meth and Ayers' fingerprint on the drug package. A confidential informant in Juneau contacted the defendant in February 2018 to purchase an ounce of heroin for $1,800. The informant wired the money to the defendant, who then sent the heroin through the U.S. Postal Service.
“The defendant exploited critical industries in Alaska to import and sell significant quantities of illicit narcotics in the Juneau region, which has been ravaged by the damaging effects of drug trafficking, Antony Jung, special agent in charge of the FBI Anchorage field office, said in the news release. "The harm caused by the distribution and use of drugs such as methamphetamine and heroin in Alaskan communities is devastating and the FBI continues to collaborate with local, state, federal, and tribal law enforcement partners to stem the tide of this systematic and widespread abuse.”
