NOTN- The last two defendants in a six-person drug trafficking conspiracy pleaded guilty last week to charges stemming from a multi-state operation that funneled fentanyl and heroin into Alaska, federal prosecutors said..
According to court documents, Semaj Brown, 34, and Brandon Garrett, 46, both of Anchorage, pleaded guilty to conspiring with Julio Juarez, 32, of Anchorage, Marcelino Juarez, 30, of Anchorage, Shane Murphy, 43, of Wasilla, and Gustavo Sebastian Lopez-Chavez, 24, a Mexican national illegally residing in the U.S., to purchase fentanyl and heroin in California and transport the substances to Alaska through the mail or in checked airline baggage.
According to officials, the group trafficked at least 36 kilograms of fentanyl and about 10 kilograms of heroin.
The investigation culminated on Aug. 22, 2024, when U.S. Postal Inspection Service agents intercepted a suspicious parcel in Anchorage. A search warrant revealed more than two kilograms of fentanyl powder inside.
Days later, law enforcement conducted a controlled delivery, ultimately arresting Marcelino Juarez and Brown after observing them collect and transport the package. Garrett was detained in a separate vehicle nearby.
Authorities later linked Brown and Murphy to a July 2024 trip to Los Angeles, where they allegedly sourced additional fentanyl and heroin, including from Lopez-Chavez.
On July 6, airport security at Los Angeles International Airport seized a suitcase bound for Anchorage containing about one kilogram of heroin and two kilograms of fentanyl, when Murphy and Brown arrived in Alaska, they noted that the suitcase did not arrive.
Lopez-Chavez was arrested in Los Angeles on Nov. 14, 2024. At the time, he was carrying roughly 23 kilograms of fentanyl, along with cash and counterfeit immigration documents.
The Juarez brothers and Brown were identified as known gang members by the Stockton, California, Police Department.
All six defendants have now pleaded guilty. Marcelino and Julio Juarez entered pleas in July; Murphy pleaded guilty in April; Lopez-Chavez pleaded guilty in June; and Garrett was indicted in March before pleading last week.
The defendants are scheduled to be sentenced within the next three months. Marcelino Juarez, Brown, Murphy, Lopez-Chavez and Garrett face between 10 years to life in prison. Julio Juarez faces between 15 years to life in prison due to a prior conviction in California for attempted murder, for which he served 11 years in prison.
The case was investigated by the FBI Anchorage Field Office and the Alaska High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area (HIDTA) task forces, with assistance from multiple agencies across Alaska and California.
U.S. Attorneys Tom Bradley, Jack Schmidt, and Bill Reed are prosecuting the case.
