Two Palmer residents who admitted to selling drugs at their home, where a teenager fatally overdosed on methamphetamine last year, have been sentenced to a total of nearly 20 years of federal prison time.
A judge ordered Tod James Rodolph, 41, to serve 12 years in prison and pay a $30,000 fine Thursday, the Anchorage U.S. attorney's office said in a statement. Jessica Elizabeth Hopkins, 36, was also ordered to spend six and a half years behind bars.
Both sentences were the result of plea deals, according to the statement.
Prosecutors had previously said that the couple kept drugs and guns at the residence and used heroin and meth there, creating what they called "an environment in which their teenage daughter and her friends were able to consume illegal drugs."
The investigation that led to Thursday's sentences was prompted by an overdose during a party on the night of Jan. 9, 2016, at the couple's home, which killed a 17-year-old boy authorities have identified only as "A.F."
"After being woken up by the teens, Rodolph did not make any efforts to call for medical help nor did he drive A.F. to the hospital due to unwanted police contact," prosecutors wrote. "By the time A.F. arrived to the hospital, he was already deceased."
Prosecutors didn't charge Rodolph or Hopkins with providing the drugs that killed A.F., but said that from January 2015 to March 2016 Rodolph brought a minimum of nearly 4 and a half pounds of heroin – worth an estimated $624,000 – to Alaska from Washington state.
"Rodolph admitted that he had taken approximately 20 trips to Seattle and would return with 2 to 5 ounces of heroin each time," prosecutors wrote. "He further admitted to selling the drugs from his residence and that he kept firearms in order to protect himself from being robbed. Hopkins admitted to having full knowledge of the drug trafficking and stated she helped facilitate drug transactions."
The two were originally charged with a total of eight counts in the case. Rodolph and Hopkins ultimately pleaded guilty to conspiracy to distribute controlled substances and possessing them with the intent to distribute, with Rodolph also entering a guilty plea for possessing firearms in furtherance of drug trafficking crimes.
Alaska State Troopers and the federal Drug Enforcement Administration investigated the case.
Correction: Due to an editing error, this article incorrectly stated that Jessica Elizabeth Hopkins received a sentence of six and a half months. Her sentence was 78 months, or six and a half years.