Palmer man indicted on federal gun charges

ANCHORAGE-- A Palmer man is one of eight Alaskans recently indicted as a result of Project Safe Neighborhoods, according to a Friday release from the U.S. Attorney's Office in Anchorage.

"The message is clear for those who violate the law; it's hard time for gun crime. Alaskan law enforcement is united in its commitment to get illegal firearms, and the criminals who use them, off the streets," U.S. Attorney Timothy M. Burgess said of the charges, which are part of Project Safe Neighborhoods, the newly established state-wide law enforcement effort to eradicate gun violence in Alaska.

Matthew James Christensen, 18, of Palmer, was reportedly charged with possession of a gun with an obliterated serial number and with possession of an unregistered sawed-off shotgun. The indictment alleges Christensen possessed several firearms, three of which were traced as having been stolen during a late-night burglary from the Matanuska Valley Sportsmen range in April 2002. Christensen also pleaded guilty to possession of stolen property in state court in Palmer for possessing other weapons stolen from the range.

According to Burgess, the charges announced on Friday are an important first step in the Safe Neighborhoods program, an initiative of the Department of Justice and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms. The coordinated effort among local, state, and federal law enforcement agencies in Alaska is designed to target violent criminals, armed career criminals and illegal gun traffickers.

The other seven Alaskans named in the federal gun indictments were Miguel A. Orellana, 18, Robert F. Combs, 35, Clifford H. Leonard, 21, Kristopher Panichello-Schell, 19, Dale W. Dodson, 19, Puipuia Alaelua, 19, and Thomas W. Greenberg, 35, all of Anchorage.

Burgess said that the Bush Administration has committed more than $558 million to assist federal, state and local law enforcement in the effort to reduce gun violence, adding that federal funds had been made available to the State of Alaska to assist in the hiring of three state prosecutors to handle state prosecutions of gun violence.

Federal funds have also provided a grant to the local non-profit Alaska Injury Prevention Center to help educate the public about gun violence and the significant federal penalties that even first-time offenders can receive.

For example, use of a firearm during a drug trafficking offense or federal crime of violence is punishable by a mandatory minimum sentence of 5 years in prison and can result in a maximum penalty of life imprisonment. The length of the sentence depends upon the criminal history of the defendant and whether the gun was carried, brandished or discharged during the drug crime or violent federal offense.