Crime & Courts

Federal jury convicts Washington man who smuggled meth and heroin into Southeast Alaska

A Washington man faces up to 40 years in prison for his role in smuggling heroin and methamphetamine into two Southeast Alaska communities.

On Wednesday, Zerisenay Gebregiorgis, 35, was convicted of conspiracy to distribute heroin and methamphetamine, and to possess the drugs with intent to distribute in both Ketchikan and Sitka, the U.S. attorney for the District of Alaska said in a written statement Friday.

In the summer of 2016, Gebregiorgis planned to distribute "large quantities" of the drugs. He "directed every aspect of the conspiracy," the statement said.

Gebregiorgis was arrested in August 2016 after police learned through an anonymous tip that he was the source of drugs being sold in Ketchikan.

Gebregiorgis, who was called "Bullet," was part of a group of people from Washington who had been flying to Sitka, police learned. He was said to "be selling and at the time giving away gram amounts of heroin to persuade the local addicts to buy from him in the future," an affidavit in the case said.

Gebregiorgis arranged for the meth and heroin to be smuggled from Seattle to Ketchikan by "means of female couriers," the affidavit said, and he would pay for the women's flights.

The couriers carried the heroin and meth "inside their bodies," Friday's statement said. Once they reached Ketchikan and Sitka, another group of people would distribute the drugs.

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Drug money was then given to the couriers, who carried it back to Seattle, where the money was delivered to Gebregiorgis, according to federal prosecutors.

Gebregiorgis trafficked at least 100 grams of heroin and up to 50 grams of meth, the written statement said.

In September 2016, while out on bail, Gebregiorgis was arrested at the Ketchikan International Airport as he tried to board a plane out of state, Alaska State Troopers said at the time.

Gebregiorgis will be sentenced March 5. He faces between five and 40 years in prison and up to $5 million in fines.

Laurel Andrews

Laurel Andrews was a reporter for the Anchorage Daily News, Alaska Dispatch News and Alaska Dispatch. She left the ADN in October 2018.

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