Man indicted after Customs intercepts drug shipments

Man indicted after Customs intercepts drug shipments

Studies have linked drug to bath salts

A Juneau man was indicted earlier this month for shipping drugs into Juneau from China, according to the indictment.

Dustin Ian Fisher, 25, was indicted for second-degree drug misconduct after U.S. Customs intercepted two packages of 4-Ethylmethcathinone-Hydrochoride (4-EMC), a controlled substance, according to charging documents. That drug, a schedule IIA substance in Alaska Statute, has been studied as being used in making bath salts.

U.S. Customs intercepted packages from China, both containing 31 grams of 4-EMC, on July 31 and Aug. 27, according to charging documents. Both were addressed to Ryan Lee at a home on Rainbow Row near Glacier Valley Elementary School in Juneau’s Mendenhall Valley, according to the police report. Customs destroyed the first packaging while inspecting it, but U.S. Postal Inspectors were able to track the second package as it was delivered Sept. 5, the indictment states.

Juneau Police Department officers waited for the package to be opened, and went over to the home on Rainbow Row where they found Lee in the driveway holding the opened package, according to the police report. Lee told the officers that Fisher had used his address to ship the drugs, the indictment alleges, and Lee agreed to work with police to deliver the 4-EMC to Fisher.

At about 11:45 p.m. Sept. 5, JPD officers drove Lee to Fisher’s home on Mendenhall Loop Road where Lee delivered the package, the police report states. A little while later, police arrived at Fisher’s home and spoke to Fisher and his girlfriend, according to charging documents.

Fisher repeatedly told the officers that 4-EMC was not a controlled substance, but did admit to buying the drugs on “the grey web” for about $200, the indictment alleges. Fisher said the 4-EMC was going to be used to party on the weekend, according to charging documents, and he told police that the package was much more than just one weekend’s worth.

According to the indictment, Fisher has four previous drug-related convictions in Alaska since 2013. Fisher was arraigned on Sept. 6, according to electronic court records. Lee was not charged with anything, according to electronic court records.

Man charged in domestic assault in tent

A 28-year-old man was indicted on two charges of second-degree domestic violence assault, two charges of third-degree domestic violence assault and one count of interfering with a report of a domestic violence crime, according to the indictment.

The police complaint, written by JPD Officer Nick Garza, alleged that the man had attacked his girlfriend in a tent camp near Riverbend Elementary on Sept. 8. The man had been in a fight with his brother earlier, and had come back to the tent where his girlfriend was and accused her of being romantically interested in his brother, according to the complaint.

The man pinned his girlfriend down and put his forearm on her throat, and she later told officers that she thought she was going to die, according to the indictment. She was able to break free, and tried to call her mother many times to call for help, according to charging documents. She was eventually able to get in touch with her mother, who called the police, according to the complaint.

The man left the scene when he found out the police were coming, according to the complaint. According to electronic court records, the man has not been arraigned yet.

Men indicted for having weapons in prison

Two Lemon Creek Correctional Center inmates were indicted this month for first-degree promoting contraband for having weapons in prison, according to charging documents.

Brendon Wesley Adam Valdez, 27, was indicted after a shank was found in his locker, according to the police report. Correctional officers found a metal spike that was sharpened to a point located in an empty seasoning bottle in Valdez’s locker, the indictment alleges. Valdez admitted to having it, according to charging documents, and said the shank was not there for use on any correctional officers.

Chad Lindzey Kreftmeyer, 30, was indicted on the same charge, though there were no details listed in his indictment other than the allegation that he had a deadly or defensive weapon in the prison.

Valdez and Kreftmeyer are co-defendants in a case alleging that they conspired with others to smuggle drugs into LCCC. That trial is scheduled to begin Nov. 5, according to electronic court records.

Other indictments included: Pavel Bogatko, 28, was indicted for second-degree robbery and second-degree theft; Patrick Dennis Hill, 50, was indicted for second-degree drug misconduct; and a 39-year-old man was indicted for two counts of third-degree assault for a case of domestic violence.


• Contact reporter Alex McCarthy at 523-2271 or amccarthy@juneauempire.com. Follow him on Twitter at @akmccarthy.


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