The US Attorney’s Office has indicted a Palmer couple that they say operated a drug house where they let teens use methamphetamine and heroin.
Troopers and the Drug Enforcement Administration, or DEA, investigated 40-year-old Tod Rodolph and 35-year-old Jessica Hopkins ever since a deadly house party in January. It was held at the couple’s home on North Golden Hill Drive in Palmer.
Court documents show they used their home as a drug house to distribute the drugs.
Court documents also state the couple allowed their teenage daughter and her friends to consume illegal drugs on the property.
The US Attorney’s office said that in the early morning hours of Jan. 10 a teen took methamphetamine at the house 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 the victim to the hospital.
The victim later died of a drug overdose.
Assistant US Attorney Stephanie Courter is working to put both Rodolph and Hopkins behind bars.
They’re charged with conspiring to distribute meth and heroin, using their home to do so, and possessing illegal firearms to aid their crimes.
“I think the big thing about these cases is that we are seeing more and more meth and heroin coming into our community and wreaking havoc on really everyone,” Courter said.
An investigation found that during 2015 and early 2016 Rodolph traveled from Alaska to the Seattle area approximately 20 times to purchase large amounts of heroin and methamphetamine. He then brought it back to Alaska and sold it for profit.
Rodolph and Hopkins are expected to make an appearance in Federal Court in coming days.
Courter said they could face a minimum penalty of 5 years and a maximum penalty of 40 years in prison for their involvement in the drug conspiracy, plus an additional five years for the gun charge.
