The federal trial for a meth distributor alleged to be responsible for a “significant trafficking” operation has been postponed to September.
Bradley Grasser, 62, has been charged with one count of possessing methamphetamine with the intent to distribute and has pleaded not guilty. Grasser also is facing the forfeiture of a significant amount of property, including more than $64,000 in cash, 11 firearms, boats and vehicles including a motor home and several motorcycles, as well as several trailers.
According to KTUU, the Drug Enforcement Administration alleged the drug smuggling and distribution ring operated in Klawock, Alaska on Prince of Wales Island, and in nearby Ketchikan.
One of the confidential sources listed in the report said Grasser was a meth supplier to the area “for approximately 20 years.”
The DEA investigation included several intercepted packages, each confirmed to contain meth via field testing. It began in July 2016 when a confidential source told authorities that Grasser was involved in significant methamphetamine trafficking on the island.
Grasser’s federal public defender, Jamie McGrady, filed a motion last month declaring the case was “complex and unusual,” citing a large volume of discovery from the government including hundreds of pages of reports and dozens of audio interviews and noting witnesses located all across Southeast Alaska.
On Tuesday, Grasser’s trial was re-scheduled for Sept. 18 and is expected to last approximately two weeks, McGrady said.
• A Craig man was sentenced to 24 months in prison in U.S. District Court in Juneau on Tuesday, after pleading guilty to one count of conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine.
John Roger Cessnun, 67, was arrested in 2015 after half a pound of methamphetamine was mailed to his post office box, concealed inside a box of mothballs. Authorities intercepted the package and conducted a controlled delivery of the drugs.
U.S. Postal Inspector Jacob Gholson wrote in an affidavit that a priority mail package — addressed to Cessnun from an address in Oregon — was identified as suspicious when it arrived at the Craig post office in late October 2015.
Authorities obtained a search warrant and found approximately 226 grams of a white crystal substance that field-tested positive for methamphetamine. The drugs were packaged in two small, vacuum-sealed baggies inside an Enoz Mothball box, the affidavit stated. Also inside the package were plastic eyeballs for Halloween, crackers, ramen and other food items. Investigators later located an additional 100 grams of meth in his residence.
Federal prosecutors were also seeking forfeiture of some of Cessnun’s property, including $7,547 in cash, gold and silver coins, gold and silver leaf bills, a truck and 20 firearms.
Federal prosecutors sought a 37-month sentence, arguing that Cessnun was selling an “extremely large amount of drugs” in a very small Southeast community. They noted Cessnun was an admitted drug addict but said he appeared ot be more “lured to the quick and easy money rather than the need to supply his habit.”
Federal public defender Jamie McGrady, however, asked for 19 months, saying that Cessnun was a Vietnam veteran suffering from post-traumatic stress disorder who only sold meth to support his drug addiction.
• A status conference was held for Jim Wayne Thornhill, who is facing one count of sexual exploitation of a child — receipt of child pornography dating from late 2014. The charges are the result of an investigation conducted by the Federal Bureau of Investigation. Thornhill was indicted in April of last year and is facing a mandatory minimum sentence of 15 years and a potential maximum sentence of 40 years. He is currently set for trial on May 8.
• Iosia Mane Faletogo was arraigned on one count of conspiracy to distribute a controlled substance and pleaded not guilty. According to the indictment filed Jan. 6, Faletogo conspired to distribute 100 grams or more of a substance containing a detectable amount of heroin between September 2013 and Sept. 12, 2014. His trial was set to start May 8.
Contact reporter Liz Kellar at 523-2246 and liz.kellar@juneauempire.com.
