A New Mexico man has been sentenced for trying to smuggle drugs into Cordova in 2012.

Enrique Lino was sentenced to 12 years in prison Friday on charges of second- and third-degree misconduct involving a controlled substance. He was convicted in October of last year.

Lino was arrested June 21, 2012, after the Alaska State Troopers’ Western Alaska Alcohol and Narcotics Team was contacted by the Cordova Police Department with a tip that someone from a southern state would attempt to smuggle drugs into Cordova, according to troopers.

The investigation led them to Lino, who was awaiting a flight to Cordova at Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport. Lino was detained and searched, revealing 25.6 grams of heroin, and 66.9 grams of methamphetamine — worth a total of $95,000.

Lino was taken to the Anchorage jail following his arrest.

An Anchorage man who pleaded guilty to two counts of sexual exploitation of a child was sentenced in federal court Thursday.

Kevin Dale Callander, 45, was sentenced to 210 months — or 17.5 years — in prison on two counts of sexual exploitation. Additionally, Callander will serve a separate 12-year prison term for sexual abuse of a minor, according to a release from the U.S. District Attorney’s office.

Callander was originally charged in November 2013 with five counts of distribution of child pornography, one count of second-degree sexual abuse of a minor, two counts of exploitation of a minor to make child pornography, two counts of indecent viewing of photo without consent of minor, and five counts of possession of child pornography. These charges all spanned from a week in July 2012 in which Callander victimized a 10-year-old girl, the release says.

The images and videos created by Callander were stored on his iPhone, the release says, and sent via email across state lines. The Anchorage Police Department found them after a search warrant was issued for Callander’s home during an investigation against him for child pornography. The U.S. Postal Inspection Service was contacted by Anchorage police when the footage was discovered.

According to court documents, U.S. District Judge Sharon L. Gleason, who sentenced Callander, recommended his sentence be served in Federal Correctional Institution, Tucson — a medium security facility– in Arizona. 

Last updated 9 a.m.

Two people have died after a shooting at an East Anchorage fourplex early Tuesday morning, police say.

The shooting, on the 6000 block of East 41st Court, happened just before 3:30 a.m., according to a statement from the Anchorage Police Department. Christian Haynes, 27, was declared dead at the scene. A 23-year-old woman was also shot and taken to a local hospital with life-threatening injuries. She died of her injuries around 5 a.m., police said, and her next-of-kin have not yet been notified.

No suspects have been taken into custody. Police were on scene investigating early Tuesday morning.

APD asks anyone with information to call the department at 786-8900.

The early morning shooting comes on the heels of Anchorage’s first homicide of 2015. A 14-year-old is in custody after Sunday’s fatal shooting at a Walgreens.

–This is a developing story. Please check back for updates. 

After two fatal shootings in less than 48 hours — less than a full month into the new year — crime trends in Anchorage have come into the conversation.

Former APD detective Glenn Klinkhart sat down with KTVA 11 News to discuss if Anchorage has indeed seen an increase in violence.

One person has been confirmed dead after an early Thursday morning shooting in the Russian Jack neighborhood — an apparent homicide, police say.

The Anchorage Police Department responded to the report of a shooting near the intersection of Bragaw Street and San Jeronimo Court at around 12:30 a.m. When they arrived they found a deceased male in an area business parking lot. No arrests have been made.

This is the fourth fatal shooting of 2015 and “appears to be a homicide,” APD  said in a statement. An 18-year-old was killed in a Sunday evening shooting at a local Walgreens — the municipality’s first homicide of 2015. On Tuesday, an early morning shooting at an East Anchorage fourplex left a couple dead.

This is a developing story. Please check back for updates.

Alaska State Troopers seized almost half a kilogram of methamphetamine from a 30-year-old Wasilla man who was stopped for a traffic violation early Thursday morning in Wasilla.

Around 2 a.m., authorities arrested Johnnylee Burk for third-degree misconduct involving a controlled substance, four counts of fourth-degree misconduct involving a controlled substance and for violating his conditions of release, according to an online dispatch from AST.

The arrest was made after Burk was pulled over in his black GMC Yukon for speeding, and troopers became suspicious of other illegal activity, according to AST spokeswoman Megan Peters.

“Reasonable suspicion was developed that he may be in possession of controlled substances,” Peters said in an email Thursday. “A scent detection K-9 was put on the vehicle, which led to search warrants being applied for both his person and vehicle.”

He was found to be in possession of 467 grams of methamphetamine and was subsequently arrested. Troopers also found what they described as a little black book that appeared to be a ledger for drug-related transactions. Burk was taken to the Mat-Su Pretrial Facility, where he is being held on $100,000 cash bail, troopers said. The estimated street value of the drugs is $67,000.

Anchorage Police Department Chief Mark Mew has announced the creation of a special task force designed to crack down on activities that have led to the recent string of shootings in Anchorage since the new year.

During a press conference Thursday, Mew explained the task force will be compiled of officers currently on staff with APD in special units, taken off their usual duties to focus on building cases and arresting people associated with the drug rings believed to be causing the recent violence.

“We are going to be going out contacting those people, serving search warrants like crazy. Taking on things one step to the next, shaking down everything that moves on the street,” Mew said. ”We decided to combine three of our special units for a short period of time, a week or two depending on how things go.”

Twenty-year-old Jeanpal Borge was the latest victim involved in one of the shootings in Anchorage this month, which has sparked the major response by police. The homicide happened early Thursday morning in the parking lot of a business at Bragaw Street and San Jeronimo Court. No arrests have been made in connection with that case.

Borge is the fourth person killed this week and Mew said Thursday evidence suggested they are all connected to drugs. At least seven other people have been wounded this month in shootings.

Mew says marijuana was involved in many of the recent shootings. He and other officers are wondering if drug dealers are jockeying for position as the state’s new pot laws come into effect.

“If the folks out there are looking at the potential for a change in the landscape and wondering how they fit into it, and they are trying to maneuver, I wonder if that’s not part of what is going on, I don’t know that it is,” Mew said.

The police union isn’t surprised about the level of drug-related crime.

“We have seen reductions in our drug units at APD,” said Sgt. Gerard Asselin of the APD Employees Association. “We have about half the number of people investigating drug crimes as we’ve had in the past.”

Asselin said the union supports the new task force, but the officers are being pulled from other work that also needs to get done.

“We need to maintain staffing at a point to keep pressure on the criminal element and let them know that, ‘If you do this, you will be caught,’ basically,” Asselin said.

Mew said the last crackdown on drug rings was in 2007, and within a few days there was a big success, one he’s hoping to replicate again.

Photo courtesy AST

A 38-year-old fugitive who Alaska State Troopers consider “very dangerous” was arrested in Tok Friday after he ran away from his court-appointed third-party custodian in Fairbanks last week.

Warrants were issued for Michael Bracht Jan. 22 after he fled a Fairbanks home on Geist Road in violation of his condition of release. The Dot Lake resident was supposed to start his jail term last week after a temporary release from custody.

The U.S. Marshals Alaska Fugitive Task Force, assisted by troopers and the Fairbanks Police Department, arrested Bracht at a home in Tok following a two-and-a half hour standoff that ended peacefully. He is being held at the Fairbanks Correctional Center pending court proceedings, according to a Friday morning statement from the U.S. Marshals Service.

Back in September, Bracht escaped from the Northstar Center, leading Fairbanks police and troopers on a high-speed chase that led to a 10-hour standoff in which he threatened to kill himself and his girlfriend. He pleaded guilty to reduced charges and was allowed to be released from custody for 12 hours to a third party, troopers said.

The wife of a Palmer man facing multiple child pornography charges was arrested today on sexual abuse of a minor and child pornography charges.

A tip from Microsoft Corporation led the Alaska Bureau of Investigation’s Technical Crimes Unit to arrest 34-year-old Brandon Muston on Jan. 21.

“During laboratory forensic examinations of the electronics that were seized from his residence, the Technical Crimes Unit identified multiple images and videos depicting child sexual abuse,” according to an Alaska State Troopers dispatch posted Monday.

Further uncovered evidence revealed that Muston and his wife, 34-year-old Tabatha Muston, had sexually abused a minor in 2013 and 2014, troopers say. After the evidence was presented to a Palmer Grand Jury, Tabatha was indicted on first-degree sexual abuse of a minor, unlawful exploitation of a minor and possession of child pornography.

Brandon was indicted on 21 counts of possession of child pornography, second-degree sexual abuse of a minor and unlawful exploitation of a minor, all of which are felony charges. He is still in custody, AST says.

Authorities located Tabatha in Wasilla today and arrested her. Her bail was set at $50,000 plus a court-approved, third-party custodian.

The investigation continues, troopers say.

Fairbanks police are asking for the public’s help finding a suspect in connection with a shooting that occurred Sunday afternoon.

Bryon Kozevnikoff, 35, shot at a person inside a residence after an altercation, according to a release from the Fairbanks Police Department. The shooting occurred at a residence located in the 1000 block of 24th Avenue.

“The bullet did not strike the intended victim,” the release says. “But two people present did receive superficial injuries as a result.”

A warrant has been issued for Kozevnikoff’s arrest. He faces first-degree attempted murder, four counts of third-degree assault, third-degree misconduct involving weapons and second-degree theft.

“The suspect should be considered armed and dangerous and should not be approached,” say Fairbanks police.

Anyone with information on Kozevnikoff’s whereabouts is asked to call FPD at 450-6500.

Three Galena teens are facing a slew of charges after they broke into the Galena Liquor Store and stole $60,000 in cash, along with tobacco, alcohol and food, authorities say.

Around 4:30 a.m. Sunday, 19-year-old Kyle Nickoli, a 15-year-old male and a 16-year-old male forced themselves into the store and caused about $400 in damage. They stole $60,000 in cash and roughly $2,000 in tobacco, alcohol, food and drinks, according to an online dispatch from Alaska State Troopers, who said they were contacted around 5:15 a.m. about the break-in.

Troopers recovered approximately $35,000 and the stolen items, which were returned to the store owner. Another $25,000 was found after the trio left the store and dropped the cash on their way out.

Nickoli was arrested for first-degree theft, second-degree burglary, fourth-degree criminal mischief, violating conditions of release and two counts of contributing to the delinquency of a minor. He was remanded to the Fairbanks Correctional Center on a no-bail warrant.

The 15- and 16-year-old were released to their parents and are being charged with first-degree theft, second-degree burglary and fourth-degree criminal mischief.

A driver who struck two vehicles in a Tuesday East Anchorage crash fled the scene wearing only his underwear, police say.

The man, who was driving a blue Nissan Versa, was speeding northbound on Boniface Parkway, according to Anchorage Police Department Sgt. Rod Ryan. There were graders taking up part of the road and he reportedly drove into oncoming traffic to get around them.

“There’s indication that the driver of the blue Versa is possibly under the influence of some sort of illegal substance,” Ryan said at the crash scene.

Northbound and southbound lanes on Boniface near Fourth Avenue were closed as APD responded to the crash near Camelot Drive and Boniface, according to APD spokeswoman Anita Shell and police dispatch.

According to Shell, the suspect was trying to climb the fence at Northwest Auto Parts, located at 5700 Camelot Dr., when police caught him and took him into custody.

Two people were hurt, Shell said, including an elderly woman in a sport utility vehicle who suffered leg and hip injuries and needed to be extricated. The vehicles hit had to be towed.

Charges have not been filed for the suspect while he remains in the hospital for treatment of injuries he sustained during the incident, according to APD spokeswoman Jennifer Castro. She says charges may be filed in about a week.

–Check back for updates on this developing story. 

Photo courtesy Yukon-Kuskokwin Health Corporation

Photo courtesy Yukon-Kuskokwin Health Corporation

Photo courtesy Yukon-Kuskokwin Health Corporation

Photo courtesy Yukon-Kuskokwin Health Corporation

Bethel police are searching for suspects after about $11,000 worth of Alaska Native traditional artifacts were stolen from the Yukon-Kuskokwin Health Corporation.

Just after 9 a.m. Wednesday, the Bethel Police Department responded to a report of stolen property at YKHC. When officers arrived, Linda Weisweaver, director of risk management, told them that multiple pieces of Native artwork throughout the building were missing. The artwork was located in locked display cabinets, Weisweaver said.

During the weekend of Jan. 31, the building was broken into, according to a release from YKHC. Approximately a dozen artifacts were stolen from cases on all three floors of the building.

Havana Erskine

Anchorage police say no one has come forward as an eyewitness to an early morning shooting on the 200 block of McCarrey Street that left at least one vehicle damaged.

Three calls came in to police around 4:40 a.m. Thursday reporting sounds of gunfire, according to Anchorage Police Department spokeswoman Anita Shell. Callers also reported the sound of a vehicle speeding away just after the shots were fired.

Police were unable to confirm a make or model of the vehicle or description of those involved due to a lack of eyewitnesses.

Shell said no one was injured, and no arrests have been made in the case. Police are asking anyone with further information to call 786-8900, or submit an anonymous tip to CrimeStoppers at 561-7867.

A 33-year-old driver who was intoxicated when he struck two 15-year-old girls on an Anchorage sidewalk in 2013 was sentenced to 32 years in prison Friday.

Stacey Graham pleaded guilty to two counts of second-degree murder back in October. Judge Kevin Saxby handed down a sentence of 20 years for each count with four years suspended for both. He will also face five years of probation upon his release.

Graham was facing a sentence between 26 and 40 years as part of a plea deal. The state asked Saxby to give the maximum of 40 years to send the message that drunk driving won’t be tolerated.

Saxby said he had to consider other factors, including sentences given for similar crimes. Even the lowest possible time, 26 years, would have been a record sentence. Graham had no prior criminal record, was remorseful and has a high likelihood of rehabilitation, said Saxby, adding that he believed Graham wanted to be a voice for sobriety.

In August 2013, Graham drank alcohol at a company golf tournament and at a friend’s home. He then left the friend’s residence and was seen speeding east on Dimond Boulevard near the Old Seward Highway, according to prosecutors. As he came around a curve, he hit a puddle of water, which caused his truck to hydroplane and slide sideways.

When his pickup regained traction it hit a curb. Jordyn Durr and Brooke McPheters — who were shopping at the mall for school clothes before walking home – were struck and died at the scene.

Graham could be considered for parole after 20 years.

–Check back for updates on this developing story. 

There was a sevenfold increase in heroin seizures and a nearly fivefold spike in methamphetamine confiscation in Alaska’s capital last year, according to statistics released by the Juneau Police Department Friday.

In all, JPD seized 4,650 grams of heroin, which had an estimated street value of $46.5 million. Heroin is usually sold as a “point” — a tenth of a gram — and goes for about $100, according to a statement from the department. In 2013, 592 grams was seized.

Meth seizures also saw a spike — 3,631 grams with a street value of approximately $635,446 was confiscated in 2014. In 2013, 760 grams — worth $124,017 — was seized.

Lt. Kris Sell attributes part of the increase to police seizing larger packages of drugs compared to 2013. In September, for instance, a man who had thousands of dollars worth of stolen Costco jewelry in his possession was allegedly planning to sell it for a kilogram of heroin, which Juneau police seized.

Heroin has also become cheaper, Sell said, and people taking other kinds of drugs may have switched over. Seizures of OxyContin, oxycodone, hydrocodone and Vicodin combined were down 75 percent during 2014.

The total street value of drugs seized for 2014 was nearly $5.8 million. JPD says they have plans in the works to purchase a drug identification K-9 this year.

Heroin and meth seizures spiked in other parts of the state last year as well. In April, the Kodiak Police Department made the biggest drug bust in the history of the department when they confiscated meth and heroin with an estimated street value of $2.2 million.

A man charged with raping a woman back in July of 2011 has been convicted of first-degree sexual assault.

A jury of eight men and six women brought back a guilty verdict against 55-year-old Dwight O’Connor Friday. O’Connor was found not guilty of two other counts of sexual assault relating to the same incident at this trial last year. The jury couldn’t agree on the third count, so prosecutors called for a retrial.

The victim says she was hitchhiking when O’Connor picked her up and took her back to his work trailer and violently raped her. O’Connor insisted throughout his defense that the encounter was consensual.

O’Connor worked with the Anchorage Public Safety Advisory Commission for more than 10 years before the allegations were brought up against him.

His sentence hearing is scheduled for June. The sentence for first-degree sexual assault – an unclassified felony – can include imprisonment for up to 99 years.

The drunk driver who struck and killed two 15-year-old girls on an Anchorage sidewalk was sentenced to 32 years in prison Friday.

Stacey Graham, 33, pleaded guilty in October to two counts of second-degree murder for the deaths of Jordyn Durr and Brooke McPheters. Anchorage Superior Court Judge Kevin Saxby handed down a sentence of 20 years for each count with four years suspended for both.

The State of Alaska had asked for a longer sentence of 40 years, the maximum sentence allowed.

“The state is asking you to impose the harshest sentence, the lengthiest sentence ever imposed in a DUI death. We are asking you to do this because we are fed up,” said Assistant District Attorney Daniel Shorey.

Anchorage Police Chief Mark Mew also asked the judge for a maximum sentence. He said a strict penalty might help to deter others from drinking and driving. Mew said it wasn’t realistic to expect some people not to drink, but maybe they could be persuaded to take a cab.

But Saxby said he had to consider other factors, including sentences given for similar crimes. Even the lowest possible sentence of prison time — 26 years — would have been a record sentence. Graham had no prior criminal record, was remorseful and has a high likelihood of rehabilitation, said Saxby, adding that he believed Graham when he said he wanted to be a voice for sobriety. He said with good behavior, it’s possible Graham could be out of prison in about 21 years.

It was an emotional hearing for the parents of the two girls, who were killed Aug. 9, 2013 while walking home from the Dimond Center mall. Dayna Durr, Jordyn’s mother, spoke to Graham during the hearing.

“Learning to survive the death of a child has been excruciating, but to survive the murder of a child is beyond comprehension,” Durr said.

Graham also spoke out in court, addressing both sets of parents.

“As a father myself, I know the love one has for his children,” Graham said. “I killed your babies. My hurt in that truth is unimaginable. I took their precious lives from you; your lives will never be the same.”

Anchorage police say a woman died after being assaulted by her son in a house on Cache Drive on Friday afternoon. An hours-long standoff followed, and when police were finally able to enter the home, they found the suspect dead from a self-inflicted gunshot wound.

Michelle Goss lives across the street from where the assault took place and watched the police operation unfold.

“They walked in, it seems through the front door, and they carried a woman out,” Goss said. “She was carried out by three different people. They didn’t have her on a stretcher or anything, it didn’t look like they had time to, and she was just limp.”

The Anchorage Police Department responded to the residence around 1 p.m. after receiving a report of a domestic disturbance. A standoff with the suspect continued for about five hours before police deployed gas.

“They started kicking in the front window on the downstairs part of the house and immediately started shooting smoke into the house and gas,” Goss said.

The house where the standoff occurred is across the road from Tudor Elementary School, which went into “stay put” mode. A couple of hours into the incident, school was let out and students were allowed to leave the building on buses or with parents.

Police say they found the male suspect dead inside the home around 6 p.m.

Goss, who is 40 weeks pregnant, began having contractions around the time police arrived at the scene.

“I called APD and I was like, ‘Hey I’m here, I’m having contractions. I don’t need to leave right now but want you to know I exist,’” Goss said. “So she told the other dispatchers I was here and if I need help to call 911, otherwise I was okay to stay.”

APD says the suspect also assaulted his adult sister, who was treated at a nearby hospital for her injuries. None of the family members are being identified until next-of-kin can be notified, police say.

Anchorage police have arrested and charged an 18-year-old female in connection with a fatal shooting that occurred on Jan. 25 near the University Area Walgreens.

Keiara Reynaud has been charged with second-degree murder and first-degree robbery, according to a release from the Anchorage Police Department. She was transported to the Anchorage Jail.

The shooting, Anchorage’s first homicide of 2015, was a drug deal gone bad, police say.

The victim, 18-year-old Charles Gustav Steinhilpert III, and a 14-year-old who police have named as the suspect, planned to meet at the Walgreens, located at the intersection of Lake Otis Parkway and Tudor Road. Sometime during the interaction, the 14-year-old produced a gun and fired it, striking Steinhilpert, who was sitting in the vehicle, APD says.

The 14-year-old was taken into custody after police say he turned himself in.

Police are asking anyone with additional information to contact APD at 786-8900.