A Palmer couple face charges for bringing drugs to Alaska from Washington and for hosting drug-fueled parties at their home, federal prosecutors said.
During one such party, a teen died after overdosing on methamphetamine, prompting the investigation that led to their arrests, the prosecutors said.
According to a Thursday statement from U.S. Attorney Karen Loeffler's office, Tod James Rodolph, 40, and Jessica Elizabeth Hopkins, 35, were each indicted on three counts: conspiracy to distribute controlled substances and possess them with the intent to distribute, maintaining drug-involved premises, and possession of controlled substances with the intent to distribute.
Rodolph was also charged with possessing four firearms as a convicted felon and possessing firearms in furtherance of drug crimes.
"It is alleged that, over the course of 2015 and early 2016, Rodolph traveled from Alaska to the area of Seattle, Washington, approximately 20 times to purchase large quantities of heroin and methamphetamine," prosecutors wrote. "He then traveled back to Alaska where he sold the drugs for profit."
In addition to trafficking the drugs, prosecutors said Rodolph — who was convicted in Arizona court of solicitation of dangerous drugs and possession of drug paraphernalia in 2007 — often used them at home, along with Hopkins.
"Rodolph and Hopkins' drug trafficking activities created an environment in which their teenage daughter and her friends were able to consume illegal drugs at their Palmer residence," prosecutors wrote.
The case stemmed from an investigation by Alaska State Troopers and the federal Drug Enforcement Administration into the death of a teenager identified as A.F., who attended a party at the home. During the early hours of Jan. 10, prosecutors said A.F. used drugs there and "began having a negative reaction."
"When Rodolph learned of the teenager's condition, he failed to call 911 and instead instructed another teenager to drive A.F. to the hospital," prosecutors wrote. "A.F. later died of what the medical examiner determined to be the acute toxic effects of methamphetamine."
Assistant U.S. Attorney Stephanie Courter, who is prosecuting the case, said more details on the case were likely to emerge as it neared trial, but that Rodolph had brought a large stockpile of drugs to Alaska.
"The quantities overall that are charged in the course of the indictment are over 100 grams of heroin and a sizable amount of methamphetamine," Courter said. "It was a substantial amount."
Courter said it wasn't clear how frequently Rodolph and Hopkins hosted drug parties like the one on Jan. 10, or how many people they sold drugs to.
"They would transport them into Alaska and then distribute them locally," Courter said. "Their home was in Palmer, which was where they were primarily operating out of."
Courter said the case is an important one for Southcentral Alaska, due to both the overdose death it involved and Alaska's wider backdrop of problems linked to heroin and meth. In a similar case last year, the Dec. 1 heroin overdose death of 22-year-old Houston resident Michael Chalender led to the arrest of three people accused of running a Valley heroin ring, as well as an alleged supplier from California.
"Given the prevalence of heroin and meth in this community and the scourge that they are causing, it is certainly important to prosecute this case," Courter said. "This isn't a problem I think we're going to prosecute our way out of, but I think law enforcement has a significant role to play in it."
On Thursday morning, an Alaska inmate database listed Rodolph in custody at Goose Creek Correctional Center in the Mat-Su, and Hopkins at Hiland Mountain Correctional Center in Eagle River.
Rodolph and Hopkins will be arraigned in federal court in the near future. They face five to 40 years in prison on the drug charges if convicted, and Rodolph could receive an additional five years on the gun charge.
Prosecutors also moved to seize a series of assets from Rodolph and Hopkins used in the alleged crimes — including any drug proceeds, the three handguns and one shotgun Rodolph is accused of possessing as a felon, and a 2002 Cadillac Escalade — if they are convicted on various counts in the case.