Three Ketchikan men have been sentenced in federal court for drug trafficking, according to the U.S. Attorney’s office.
In a Monday announcement, the U.S. Attorney states that the three men conspired in 2017 to import and distribute methamphetamine in Ketchikan. Forty-one-year-old Neptali Dadia pled guilty and was sentenced on Monday to 10 years in federal prison.
The U.S. Attorney’s office reports that in September, two other Ketchikan men pleaded guilty and were sentenced on related charges. They are 28-year-old Matthew Speers and 33-year-old Jaypee Lorenzo.
Speers received a federal prison sentence of five years; Lorenzo is to serve 15 months.
According to the U.S. Attorney’s office, Dadia coordinated and directed the operation. He arranged a shipment of methamphetamine from outside the United States into Nevada, and then arranged for the drugs to be sent to Ketchikan. Speers and Lorenzo were part of the local operation.
The investigation started after a suspicious package was identified in August of 2017, addressed to Speers and sent from Nevada. According to the announcement, the package contained a teddy bear with about 54 grams of meth hidden inside.
The announcement states that the three men had previously arranged for shipment and distribution of methamphetamine in Ketchikan, using the same methods.
