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Source: US FBI

JUNEAU, Alaska – A Ketchikan man was sentenced today to 13 years and 4 months in prison for distributing child pornography through a group messaging platform.

According to court documents, Walter William Onstad, 46, was an administrator of a messaging group known as “Anything Goes.” The chat was used exclusively to exchange child pornography, with some of the visuals depicting the sexual abuse of pre-pubescent minors.

Court documents say investigators with the National Center for Missing and Exploited Children received a tip in April 2022 that an individual, later identified as Onstad, sent at least 12 images and videos of child pornography to another user through the messaging platform.

An investigation revealed that Onstad solicited images depicting child sexual abuse from those wanting to enter the “Anything Goes” group chat. The defendant would personally verify the images, upload the images to the group chat and grant access to people who provided them.

As the investigation continued, the defendants cell phone was taken by law enforcement and over 300 images and 40 videos of child sexual abuse were in his possession on the phone. The defendant admitted to being responsible for the possession and distribution of over 600 images. Some of the images he possessed and distributed included the sexual abuse of minors as young as infants and toddlers.

“Mr. Onstad contributed to the victimization of children by running a child sexual abuse material distribution chat and was responsible for sharing hundreds of images of innocent children,” said U.S. Attorney S. Lane Tucker for the District of Alaska. “We will continue to work with law enforcement to relentlessly pursue, arrest and prosecute individuals who traffic images of child sexual abuse and hold them responsible for the incalculable damage they’ve caused.”

“Innocent children are revictimized each time CSAM is distributed,” said Special Agent in Charge Rebecca Day of the FBI Anchorage Field Office. “As an administrator of a CSAM distribution operation, Walter Onstad fueled a market that preys on our most vulnerable. No matter how they commit their crimes, those who sexually exploit children will be pursued and held accountable by the FBI and law enforcement partners, for justice and the safety of our children.”

The Juneau Resident Agency of the FBI Anchorage Field Office, with assistance from the Ketchikan Police Department and North Carolina’s Internet Crimes Against Children (ICAC) Task Force, investigated the case.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Jack Schmidt prosecuted the case.

This case was brought as part of Project Safe Childhood, a nationwide initiative to combat the growing epidemic of child sexual exploitation and abuse launched in May 2006 by the Department of Justice. Led by U.S. Attorneys’ Offices and CEOS, Project Safe Childhood marshals federal, state, and local resources to better locate, apprehend and prosecute individuals who exploit children via the Internet, as well as to identify and rescue victims. For more information about Project Safe Childhood, please visit https://www.justice.gov/psc.

Source: US FBI

ANCHORAGE, Alaska – An Arizona man was sentenced today to 10 years in prison and three years’ supervised release for supplying hundreds of thousands of fentanyl pills to Alaska over multiple months.

According to court documents, Odarious Shaw, 25, distributed fentanyl pills to Alaska twice a week for over six months in quantities of 40-50,000 pills per shipment. In some instances, the defendant would ship as many as 500,000 pills at a time.

Law enforcement learned that Shaw would obtain pills in Arizona and instruct buyers in Alaska to send him $150 via a money transferring service to confirm the transaction. He would then provide a date when a courier would arrive on a commercial flight at the Anchorage airport with the drugs in their checked luggage. Upon arrival, the courier would deliver the pills to the buyer, pick up the cash payment for the drugs and immediately board a flight back to Arizona to deliver the money to Shaw.

On June 25, 2023, Shaw’s courier and codefendant, Corrion James, 26, arrived at the Ted Stevens International Airport in Anchorage on a flight from Phoenix, Arizona, with a package containing over 41,000 fentanyl pills. James was arrested at the airport after attempting to sell the pills to the arranged buyer. Those pills had an estimated street value of $400-600,000 in Anchorage, and as much as $4.8 million in rural Alaska.

Shaw continued to try to sell drugs in Alaska after James was arrested but was subsequently arrested in Arizona in August 2023. James pleaded guilty in February 2024 and was sentenced to over three years in prison for his role in the conspiracy.

At sentencing, Chief U.S. District Court Judge Sharon Gleason found that Shaw was a leader or organizer of the drug trafficking activity in this case and said that she hopes this sentence deters people motivated by greed from trafficking this deadly drug to Alaska.

“A single pill can destroy someone’s life and the amount of fentanyl Mr. Shaw supplied to Alaska could destroy entire communities,” said U.S. Attorney S. Lane Tucker for the District of Alaska. “Illegal fentanyl has absolutely no place here. My office will continue to hinder the inflow of illegal fentanyl into our state by working with our law enforcement partners to disrupt the supply and distribution of this poisonous drug.”

“During the course of this investigation, the FBI and our law enforcement partners intercepted tens of thousands of illicit fentanyl pills before reaching local Alaska communities, preventing untold violence and devastation,” said Special Agent in Charge Rebecca Day of the FBI Anchorage Field Office. “With a task force approach, the FBI and our law enforcement partners will continue to identify, disrupt, and hold accountable those who are fueling drug trafficking activities in Alaska.”

The Alaska State Troopers, Anchorage Police Department and the FBI Anchorage Field Office investigated the case as part of the FBI Safe Streets Task Force and the Alaska High-Intensity Drug Trafficking Area (HIDTA) initiative.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Christopher Schroeder prosecuted the case.

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Source: US FBI

ANCHORAGE, Alaska – A federal grand jury in Alaska returned a superseding indictment adding new charges against the leader and a high-ranking member of a large-scale organized drug crime ring operating in Alaska.

In January, the U.S. Attorney’s Office for Alaska announced charges against 53 defendants allegedly connected to the drug trafficking enterprise. Conspiracy to distribute fentanyl, methamphetamine, heroin and cocaine, continuing criminal enterprise, killing in furtherance of a continuing criminal enterprise, kidnapping conspiracy, kidnapping resulting in death and carjacking resulting in death, were among the original charges against leaders, members and associates of the organization.

According to court documents, Heraclio Sanchez-Rodriguez, 57, is allegedly the leader of the transnational organized crime and drug trafficking ring targeting Alaska. Tamara Bren, 41, is a high-ranking member known as one of his “wives.” Per the new charges, from August 2022 to September 2023, Bren and Sanchez-Rodriguez allegedly conspired to launder money by directing members of the enterprise to use money transferring services, like wire transfers, mobile applications and money orders, to attempt to launder over $1.3 million in drug proceeds.

Court documents also charge Sanchez-Rodriguez with allegedly altering and falsifying investigative reports by the DEA, FBI, and U.S. Postal Inspection Service, to impede, obstruct and influence the investigation on Dec. 20, 2023.

According to the superseding indictment, law enforcement has seized over 92 kilograms of fentanyl, 26 kilograms of meth, 11 kilograms of heroin and 110 grams of cocaine in connection to this enterprise.

In addition to the original charges, Sanchez-Rodriguez and Bren are charged with one count of money laundering conspiracy in violation of 18 U.S.C. §1956(h), and Sanchez-Rodriguez is charged with one count of obstruction of justice in violation of 18 U.S.C. §1519.

U.S. Attorney S. Lane Tucker of the District of Alaska, Assistant Special Agent in Charge David Zahn of the Drug Enforcement Administration Anchorage District Office, Inspector in Charge Anthony Galetti of the U.S. Postal Inspection Service Seattle Division, Special Agent in Charge Rebecca Day of the FBI Anchorage Field Office and Special Agent in Charge Adam Jobes of the IRS Criminal Investigation Seattle Field Office made the announcement.

The Drug Enforcement Administration Seattle Division Office and Anchorage District Office, FBI Anchorage Field Office, IRS Criminal Investigation Seattle Field Office, U.S. Postal Inspection Service Seattle Division and Anchorage Domicile, Homeland Security Investigations Anchorage, Alaska Office, Alaska State Troopers, Anchorage Police Department and Palmer Police Department, with significant law enforcement support from the U.S. Marshals Service, are investigating the case.

Assistant U.S. Attorneys Stephan Collins, Christopher Schroeder, Karen Vandergaw and Alana Weber are prosecuting the case.

This investigation and prosecution are part of the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force (“OCDETF”), which identifies, disrupts, and dismantles the highest-level drug traffickers, money launderers, gangs, and transnational criminal organizations that threaten the United States by using a prosecutor-led, intelligence-driven, multi-agency approach that leverages the strengths of federal, state, and local law enforcement agencies against criminal networks.

An indictment is merely an allegation, and all defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.

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Source: US FBI

ANCHORAGE, Alaska – An Anchorage man was sentenced yesterday to 11 years in prison and four years’ supervised release for possessing firearms as a felon and possessing drugs with an intent to distribute them.

According to court documents, on Jan. 28, 2021, law enforcement found Joseph Franks, 42, asleep in a running tow truck along a road in Big Lake. Franks had an active warrant for his arrest and was asked to step out of the vehicle. Upon his arrest, law enforcement found a loaded pistol magazine on his person. They obtained a search warrant for the tow truck and found a backpack containing two stolen pistols, six pistol magazines and over 300 grams of marijuana, among other items, and a safe containing over 60 grams of heroin and paraphernalia commonly used for drug distribution.

Less than a week later, law enforcement attempted to stop a vehicle in Wasilla, but the vehicle fled, leading to a high-speed chase for several miles. Spike stripes were deployed, causing the vehicle to crash, but the driver, later determined to be Franks, broke the driver’s side window and fled from the vehicle on foot. Franks was apprehended by a K9 and law enforcement found $1,770 in cash and a small container with cocaine on his person, and $3,550 in cash, over 61 grams of marijuana, over 35 grams of meth, over 85 grams of heroin, and small amounts of psilocybin and cocaine inside a locked duffle back in the vehicle’s trunk.

“Mr. Franks repeatedly disregarded the law and endangered the community with his criminal conduct,” said U.S. Attorney S. Lane Tucker for the District of Alaska. “We will continue to work closely with our law enforcement partners to pursue justice against defendants who choose to commit criminal acts, especially activity that puts our communities at risk like firearm and drug trafficking offenses.”

“The defendant continued to plague our community with serious crimes involving drugs, stolen firearms, and reckless flight from law enforcement,” said Special Agent in Charge Rebecca Day of the FBI Anchorage Field Office. “This sentence, stemming from a joint investigation with the Alaska State Troopers, exemplifies our shared commitment in keeping our communities safe.”

“The sentence handed down in this prosecution is a significant victory in the Alaska State Trooper’s fight against drug trafficking occurring across the State of Alaska,” said Captain Cornelius Sims, Captain of the Alaska State Trooper’s Statewide Drug Enforcement Unit. “The Alaska State Troopers will continue to work tirelessly with our local, state, and federal law enforcement partners to interrupt drug trafficking in Alaska and hold those that peddle these dangerous drugs accountable for their actions.”

The FBI Anchorage Field Office and Alaska State Troopers investigated the case.

Assistant U.S. Attorneys Jennifer Ivers and Alana Weber prosecuted the case.

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Source: US FBI

JUNEAU, Alaska – A federal grand jury in Alaska returned an indictment charging a South African man with assaulting three people with medical scissors while aboard a cruise ship.

According to court documents, on May 6, 2024, Ntando Sogoni, 35, was allegedly discovered trying to deploy a lifeboat and was taken to the ship’s medical area for an evaluation.

During his evaluation, he began struggling with a nurse and security guard and fled to another examination room, where he assaulted a female victim, who is a U.S. citizen. He stabbed her with trauma scissors multiple times in the chest, arms and head, causing serious bodily harm. He proceeded to attack two security guards, stabbing one guard, a national of the Philippines, in the head, and stabbing the other guard, a national of Nepal, in the spine.

He was detained and held in the ship’s jail until arriving in Juneau on May 7, where he was charged by complaint and arrested by the FBI.

At the time of the assault, the ship was on the high seas and within the special maritime and territorial jurisdiction of the U.S., and on a voyage with a scheduled departure from or arrival in the U.S.

Sogoni is charged with one count assault with intent to murder in violation of 18 U.S.C. §7(1), (7) and (8) and 113(a)(1), three counts of assault with a dangerous weapon in violation of 18 U.S.C. §7(1), (7) and (8) and 113(a)(3), and three counts of assault resulting in serious bodily injury in violation of 18 U.S.C. §7(1), (7) and (8) and 113(a)(6), The defendant made his initial court appearance on May 9 before U.S. Magistrate Judge Matthew M. Scoble of the U.S. District Court for the District of Alaska. If convicted, he faces a maximum penalty of 20 years in prison for the one count of assault with intent to murder and 10 years in prison and a $250,000 fine for the other five assault counts. A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.

U.S. Attorney S. Lane Tucker of the District of Alaska, Special Agent in Charge Rebecca Day with the FBI Anchorage Field Office and Supervisory Special Agent Brett Durham of the U.S. Coast Guard Investigative Service (CGIS) Resident Agency Juneau and Resident Unit Anchorage made the announcement.

The FBI Anchorage Field Office and FBI Juneau Resident Agency, and the CGIS Resident Agency Juneau are investigating the case.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Jack Schmidt is prosecuting the case.

An indictment is merely an allegation, and all defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.

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