While awaiting his trial for drug conspiracy in 2017, Seattle man Zerisenay Gebregiorgis allegedly was in possession of drugs in prison, according to an indictment.
A Juneau grand jury indicted Gebregiorgis with one count of first-degree promoting contraband and one count of fourth-degree drug misconduct. The indictment is dated Nov. 21, 2017, and alleges that Gebregiorgis knowingly possessed methamphetamine while incarcerated.
Having contraband in prison, according to the indictment, is a class C felony while possessing meth is a class A misdemeanor.
In December 2017, a jury found Gebregiorgis, 36, guilty of working with others to distribute heroin and methamphetamine throughout Southeast Alaska. On June 1 of this year, Chief U.S. District Court Judge Timothy M. Burgess sentenced Gebregiorgis to 10 years in prison and five years of supervised release.
[Man convicted of running Southeast Alaska drug conspiracy sentenced to 10 years]
During the sentencing hearing, Assistant U.S. Attorney Jack Schmidt brought up the fact that Gebregiorgis had been caught with drugs while at Lemon Creek Correctional Center. Defense Attorney Rex Butler didn’t deny the accusation, saying there’s often pressure from gangs in prison to go along with getting drugs behind bars.
Prior to handing down the sentence, Burgess said it was a red flag that Gebregiorgis had been in possession of drugs while being in prison for allegedly dealing them.
“It also underscores a lack of awareness and lack of contrition for the conduct in which he was involved,” Burgess said at the hearing.
Three men indicted on separate domestic violence charges
A Juneau grand jury indicted three men for separate instances of domestic violence in June, according to charging documents.
According to police reports, the Juneau Police Department arrested a 21-year-old man on June 11, who was then indicted for second-degree assault and third-degree assault. At about 10:12 p.m. June 11, according to the indictment, police responded to the report of an assault in a car in front of an apartment building.
JPD Officer Steve Warnaca wrote in his report that he found a man and a woman in the car, and that there were fresh bruises on the woman’s arm and shoulder. The woman later told Warnaca in a video interview that the man had grabbed her by her throat, punched her and slammed her into the car door, Warnaca wrote.
The woman said she was afraid for her life, Warnaca wrote, which resulted in the third-degree assault charge (a class C felony) in addition to the second-degree domestic violence assault charge (a class C felony).
The following day, according to charging documents, police arrested a 30-year-old man for domestic violence assault. The man was indicted on one charge of second-degree assault (a class B felony) and three charges of third-degree assault (a class C felony).
According to a written report from JPD Officer Nicholas Garza, the female victim was bleeding from her head and the man had dried blood on his hands and clothing and several small cuts on his left hand when police arrived. The man said he and his wife had gotten into an argument and she tried to stab him with a knife, according to the report, and he denied any physical contact with her besides wrestling the knife away from her.
The victim told police her husband was angry about money to buy drugs and began to hit and kick her, according to charging documents. Then, the man picked up a large knife and held it above her head in a stabbing motion, the victim told police.
After that, according to Garza’s report, the man picked up a machete and held it over her head and threatened to “cut her up and put her in the dryer,” the victim told police. The woman ran away from the man, grabbing a knife on the way for self-protection, she told police in the report.
When she tried to escape the house, she told police, her husband grabbed her by her hair, threw her on the ground and began to strangle her, according to the report. He stopped after a while, and she was able to escape out the bathroom window, according to the report.
Police found the victim’s injuries to be consistent with her story and found the knife and machete on the scene, according to Garza’s report.
According to another indictment, JPD officers arrested a 30-year-old man on June 18 and he was indicted on one charge of third-degree assault. JPD Officer Aron Landry wrote in a report that the man had strangled a woman from behind with his arm and then punched her after releasing her.
The man told police he was never in the area, according to Landry’s report, but then changed his story to say his friend had been driving him around in the area at the time of the assault.
Man indicted after downtown fight
Police say a man assaulted two people on Ferry Way in the early hours of June 20. A Juneau grand jury indicted Nathan Ta’ala, 28, for one count of third-degree assault, which is a class C felony.
According to a report from JPD Officer Patrick Vaughan, Vaughan responded to the report of a fight on Ferry Way at about 12:19 a.m. June 20. Vaughan wrote that he arrived to find a large shirtless man who put on a sweatshirt and fled the scene.
Vaughan spoke with two victims who had visible injuries, according to his report, and one of them wanted to press charges. The one who wanted to press charges, according to the report, was bleeding from injuries to his head and face following the fight.
One of the victims led Vaughan to the Lucky Lady bar, where he pointed out Ta’ala, according to the charging documents. Vaughan wrote that he detained Ta’ala and found fresh blood on his sweatpants.
According to the indictment, Ta’ala has two previous fourth-degree assault convictions in Anchorage, in August and November of 2017.
• Contact reporter Alex McCarthy at 523-2271 or amccarthy@juneauempire.com. Follow him on Twitter at @akmccarthy.
