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ANCHORAGE - Alaska is getting tougher on people who illegally bring alcohol to rural communities.

The state is launching a campaign warning alcohol smugglers they'll face big fines and mandatory jail time if caught.

The effort comes after two rural hub communities - Kotzebue and Bethel - voted last month to remove bans on local liquor sales.

Assistant Attorney General Robin Koutchak said the effort is about spreading the word on stiff penalties enacted by lawmakers in 2008 rather than a response to the recent votes. Some community leaders have said they were unaware of the new rules, she said.

"They wished that the state had made more of an effort to notify people that if you were busted for bootlegging, even one bottle, that you would be going to jail," she said.

Koutchak estimated about 300 people have been convicted under the new bootlegging penalties.

The new rules make the penalty for the most basic bootlegging cases as serious as a drunken driving charge, including three days in jail and a $1,500 fine for first-time offenders. Second offenses carry a sentence of 20 days in jail and a $3,000 fine, and a third offense is 60 days in jail and a $4,000 fine.

If all three convictions are within the last 15 years, the third offense is raised from a misdemeanor to a felony and a minimum $10,000 fine.

Koutchak said a first-time offender caught trying to sneak a few bottles probably wouldn't have seen any jail time a few years ago. Fines at the time ranged from a couple hundred dollars to a couple thousand.

Offenders have also lost the ability to scrub the conviction from their criminal records with good behavior.

The state sent posters to Bethel last month warning how much first-time smugglers have to pay if convicted. More posters and pamphlets are in the works and will likely be distributed in Kotzebue, Nome and Barrow, according to Koutchak.