Two years after his arrest, a former Petersburg man has agreed to plead guilty to a federal charge for possession and intent to sell methamphetamine here.
This April 55-year-old Randy Long signed a plea agreement to resolve the case against him. He was indicted on one count of possession with intent to distribute meth.
Petersburg police served search warrants in April of 2017 at two residences, at 409 and 503 Ira II Street. Officers seized 126 grams of meth, a scale and baggies at one home. The other yielded a small amount of meth and heroin, multiple cell phones and drug paraphernalia. Authorities say Long had sold drugs to others from both locations and intended to sell the meth they seized.
Long was arrested and initially charged in state court. Those charges were dismissed when the case moved to federal court. Long now lives in Anchorage. He was taken into federal custody in June of 2017 and released with conditions in January of this year.
The drug charge has a maximum sentence of 20 years in jail and a one million dollar fine. However, the plea agreement says the attorneys for the prosecution and defense both recommend his jail sentence be only for the time he’s already served. He waives his rights to appeal the conviction. And the government no longer is seeking forfeiture of 4,700 dollars believed to be drug sale proceeds seized from Long in 2017. However, U.S. district judge Timothy Burgess could impose fines, probation or additional terms during sentencing. That’s scheduled for July 15th at 11 a.m. in an Anchorage courtroom.
