Crime & Courts

Troopers: Seattle man out on bail for drug charges arrested trying to leave state

A Seattle man facing charges in Alaska for his alleged role in a conspiracy to use drug mules to bring heroin and meth the state was arrested Saturday at the Ketchikan International Airport as he tried to board a plane out of state, Alaska State Troopers reported.

Zerisenay Gebregiorgis, 34, was arrested by the troopers' Statewide Drug Enforcement Unit at 5:34 p.m. on Saturday "when he attempted to depart Ketchikan for Seattle on a commercial airline in violation of his conditions of release."

Gebregiorgis was originally arrested in August on two felony drug conspiracy charges. He was out on bail when he tried to board the flight, according to troopers.

After his arrest, he was taken to the Ketchikan Court, where he was ordered back to the jail with an additional $10,000 bail on top of his current $25,000, pending the appointment of an approved third-party custodian, troopers said. 

Michelle Theriault Boots

Michelle Theriault Boots is a longtime reporter for the Anchorage Daily News. She focuses on in-depth stories about the intersection of public policy and Alaskans' lives. Before joining the ADN in 2012, she worked at daily newspapers up and down the West Coast and earned a master's degree from the University of Oregon.

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