Three Petersburg residents were arrested last week and police allege the three tried to receive a shipment of methamphetamine and heroin for sale in Petersburg.
40-year-old Aaron Bradford, 36-year-old Breeann Dawe and 56-year-old Sam Nelson have each been charged with two counts of misconduct involving a controlled substance in the second degree, one count in the third degree along with a charge of tampering with the evidence. Those are class A, B and C felonies.
Authorities allege the three had illegal drugs sent to Petersburg for distribution in the community.
The charges are the result of an investigation involving the FBI, U.S. Postal Inspectors, Petersburg police and officers with the regional task force Southeast Alaska Cities Against Drugs, or SEACAD.
According to a probable cause statement filed in court, local police were alerted to a package mailed to Petersburg addressed to Nelson. That package was intercepted by SEACAD and Petersburg police officers on June 30th. They executed a federal search warrant, opened it and reported finding 8.77 grams of suspected meth, 25.03 of a substance suspected to be heroin along with six oxycodone pills. Those drugs have an estimated street value of $16,000.
A U.S. Postal inspector put a tracking device in the package, along with samples of those substances and had it delivered in Petersburg. Authorities say Dawe attempted to pick it up from Petersburg’s post office on Wednesday July 1st but was denied the package because her name was not on the mail box account. The court document says Nelson then picked it up that afternoon and tried unsuccessfully to deliver it to Dawe. Authorities say Bradford later gave Nelson a ride and the two went to Bradford’s house to open the package, before finding the tracking device and burning the package in a smoker. Officers later say they found the remains of the parcel and the tracking device near Bradford’s home. They also say Nelson told them he was approached to receive packages and deliver them to Dawe and say they uncovered other evidence that the package was meant for her.
The three had their first court appearance Monday, July 3 and have another on July 13. Dawe and Bradford had already posted bail. All three were appointed public defenders.
