Two Ketchikan residents were sentenced Tuesday for trafficking methamphetamine and heroin into Alaska’s first city, according to federal prosecutors.
U.S. District Court Judge Timothy Burgess sentenced Robert Duane Moriarty, 36, to five years in prison, and Sara Skan, 35, to 18 months in prison during a hearing in Juneau federal court. Both were also required to be on probation after their release.
According to a news release from the U.S. Attorney for the District of Alaska, Moriarty and Skan traveled to the lower 48 states to purchase narcotics and bring them back up to Alaska starting in September 2014.
In January of this year, law enforcement acted on a tip and intercepted them at the Ketchikan airport on a return-trip from Seattle. Prosecutors said police obtained a search warrant and found Moriarty and Skan had approximately 141 grams of methamphetamine, 121 grams of heroin and drug money on their person. Law enforcement agencies seized a total of $1,009 in drug proceeds, money which the defendant’s forfeited as part of their plea deals.
Moriarty and Skan were indicted on drug trafficking conspiracy charges in April and later pleaded guilty in court.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Alaska credited the DEA, Ketchikan Police Department and the Port of Seattle Police Department for investigating the case.
