Petersburg Pilot

Undercover work results

in four arrests last week

Keith Chaplin

September 2, 2010

Four individuals were arrested last week and are facing felony drug charges following a three-month undercover investigation that yielded a wide array of drugs in Petersburg.

The four, 36-year-old Eric Walker, 27-year-old Renee Lester, 19-year-old Tabetha Taylor, and 19-year-old Ryan Snidarich all face felony drug charges after they allegedly sold drugs to an undercover operative working in conjunction with the Petersburg Police Department.

The four all pled not guilty to the charges and trials have been set for November.

The investigation also included members of the Alaska State Troopers Alaska Bureau of Alcohol and Drug Enforcement (ABADE) and Southeast Alaska Cities Against Drugs (SEACAD).

Over three months, an undercover operative worked with Petersburg Police Sgt. Heidi Agner to contact and make alleged transactions with the four individuals for drugs including cocaine, methadone, marijuana, ecstasy, methamphetamine and prescription opiates including morphine and oxycodone, according to the court complaint filed by police.

The paid female operative is unnamed in court documents but identified as “N980.”

This is the first time an undercover operative that is not an officer has been used, Petersburg Police Chief Jim Agner said.

“She is currently in a police department down south working an internship, and we expect that she will probably be a police officer in some very fortunate community in the near future,” Agner said. “I tried to convince her to take a job as a police officer in Petersburg.”

On Wednesday, Aug. 25, Walker was arrested at the Petersburg airport as he attempted to leave Petersburg.

On Thursday, Aug. 26, enforcement agents from Juneau, Ketchikan, Sitka and the U.S. Forest Service along with officers from Petersburg and a canine unit served arrest and search warrants for Lester and Taylor. Teams of law enforcement raided houses on Hungerford Hill and South Nordic Drive. Snidarich was arrested at the Petersburg Police Department following the initial arrests when he came to check on the two in custody, Petersburg Police Chief Jim Agner said.

Two marijuana grow operations were also discovered during the raids, Agner said.

Agner said his focus in the investigation was to see what kinds of drugs could be purchased in town, not how much of each drug. He said the wide array of drugs available runs the gamut.

“The illegal drug use in Petersburg … that is the elephant in the room,” Agner said. “Everybody knows about issues we have with drug use.”

“Even somebody that is new in town that doesn’t have a lot of connections has no problems in this town finding people that will sell them any kind of drug they want,” Agner said.

Agner described the four arrested as, “street level dealers.”

Walker, who faces four felony counts was in Petersburg working at a cannery and had four interactions with the undercover operative according to court documents.

On July 9, 2010, the operative allegedly exchanged $25 with Walker for a gram of marijuana outside of Kito’s Kave. Walker allegedly gave the operative .5 grams of marijuana in a bag according to court documents.

On July 10, the operative allegedly exchanged $100 with Walker for a gram of cocaine. The amount turned out to be .5 grams. The operative was also allegedly outfitted with a recording device that picked up Walker explaining what to do with the drugs.

“You snort it. You want to do it now?” Walker allegedly asked. “You want me to show you. You take a card, pour everything out, and make lines in it.”

On July 16, the operative allegedly exchanged $150 for a gram of methamphetamine. The bag Walker sold allegedly contained .5 grams of methamphetamine according to the court complaint.

On July 30, the operative again allegedly met with Walker and this time exchanged $150 for a bag that contained .6 grams of cocaine according to the court complaint.

Agner said the operative had the chance to buy Heroin from Walker, but the department had already bought enough to charge him with a felony.

Walker is being held on $20,000 bail with a preliminary hearing set for Sept. 3, 2010

Taylor, of Petersburg, faces three felony charges of Misconduct Involving a Controlled Substance in the second degree.

On June 17, the operative met with Taylor to allegedly buy two methadone pills for $40.

The operative met with Taylor in the parking lot of the elementary school where Taylor allegedly asked the operative to drop the money in her lap. Taylor then allegedly gave the operative a bag containing two pills which were later compared in the drug identification bible and found to be methadone.

On June 25 and June 28, the operative allegedly bought a morphine pill from Taylor for $60. They met on Harbor Way and Taylor had the operative slide the money down the door and handed her a morphine pill according to court documents.

Lester, of Petersburg faces three charges of Misconduct Involving a Controlled Substance, two counts in the second degree and one in the third degree.

On June 11, the operative allegedly exchanged $70 with Lester for a gram of marijuana and two methadone pills. Lester met with the operative on Harbor Way and allegedly gave the operative a bag containing .8 grams of marijuana and two pills according to court documents.

On June 24, Lester allegedly sold the operative two ecstasy pills, and on June 26 allegedly sold one oxycodone pill.

Snidarich, of Petersburg faces one felony charge of Misconduct Involving a Controlled Substance in the third degree.

On June 24, Lester, Snidarich’s alleged girlfriend met with the operative and exchanged money for two ecstasy pills. The two drove around Petersburg before meeting with Snidarich on Harbor Way. Snidarich then gave the operative two ecstasy pills, according to the court complaint.