Washington man sentenced to seven years on drug, firearms charges

A 35-year-old Washington man will spend the next seven years behind bars after appearing in Anchorage Federal Court on felony firearms charges in a Mat-Su-related incident.

Jesse Robert Smith of Sedro-Wooley, Washington, appeared before and was sentenced by Chief U.S. District Judge Timothy Burgess for a July 31, 2016, incident that reportedly occurred in Wasilla at a large grocery store parking lot on the Parks Highway. According to acting U.S. Attorney Bryan Schroder, Wasilla Police Department officers found Smith passed out in the driver’s seat of a running vehicle.

Investigation revealed Smith was in possession of a .32 caliber pistol, 330 grams of heroin, and almost $21,000 in cash. According to Schroder, at the time of the incident, Smith was prohibited from possessing firearms or ammunition as part of a received sentence for an earlier conviction of conspiracy to distribute cocaine.

Prior to announcing sentence, Judge Burgess commented on Smith’s “ugly” criminal history. Smith’s prior convictions include five felony convictions—two for drug distribution, two for drug possession, and one for possession of stolen property. In addition to the prison sentence, Smith will be placed on three years of supervised release.