A grand jury in Juneau, for the state of Alaska’s First Judicial District, indicted 66-year old Wrangell resident Steven Ray Marshall Thursday for two drug-related felonies: for allegedly possessing 478.8 grams of methamphetamine and for the intent to deliver.
Wrangell Police Chief Gene Meek said this amount is massive. It’s about one pound with an estimated street value of roughly $90,000.
He said it’s important to get this off Wrangell streets.
“I don’t know of any drug shipments coming into this town that have been bigger,” he said. “Nobody else has been able to tell me of one that was bigger, at least one that was intercepted by law enforcement.”
On Dec. 19, a United States Postal Inspection Service Task Force Officer identified a suspicious parcel in the mail. The return address on the package was not a legitimate address.
SEACAD took the lead on the operation
Southeast Alaska Cities Against Drugs Task Force got a search warrant for the package.
Meek said SEACAD took the lead on the case and informed the Wrangell Police Department about the drug trafficking operation.
“I did not know about the specific package until SEACAD contacted us,” he said. “We knew drugs were coming in, and the way our drugs have been coming in are through the mail and through boat and ferry. So SEACAD monitors the packages.”
On December 29, SEACAD delivered the package to Wrangell. They also had a search warrant for Marshall’s residence in the Panhandle Trailer Park.
Three law enforcement agencies worked together
Officials said Marshall picked up the package, went to the local IGA grocery store and then took the package to his residence. SEACAD, the Wrangell Police Department and the U.S. Forest Service worked together to seize the package. They said tracking equipment on the package notified officials that somebody opened the parcel in the residence. Then, law enforcement confronted Marshall at his home.
Police found the substances under a reclining chair in the living room and the equipment that notified when somebody opened the package broken on the floor.
According to charging documents, Marshall told officers he did not know anything about the package containing methamphetamine.
Marshall held in Wrangell Police Department Jail
He consented to a search of his cell phone, which officers said it showed that he was actively tracking the package, including on the day of his arrest.
SEACAD investigator Jessee Fergin arrested and transported Marshall to the Wrangell Police Department Jail where he’s being held.
A bond is set for $10,000, with a $5,000 signature bond. That’s an agreement that Marshall would pay $5,000 if he violates the conditions of his release, which include house arrest with electronic monitoring and drug screening. He asked for a reduction in bond, but it was rejected. He holds a prior criminal history with convictions involving weapons, assault and violating conditions of release.
His arraignment with the Superior Court will be Tuesday at 1 p.m. in the Wrangell Courthouse.
Marshall’s public defender, Julia Graves, told KSTK she still had to look at the indictment, but that she could not comment on the case regardless.
