Wasilla man gets 4 years in federal prison

ANCHORAGE — A Wasilla man was sentenced Wednesday to 48 months in federal prison on drug and gun crimes.

Kevin Ricker, 49, had been convicted with drug conspiracy and being a felon in possession of a gun.

Federal authorities say in a press release that in July 2012, Ricker “facilitated the distribution of 15.7 grams of actual methamphetamine in exchange for $2,900.”

According to court records, Ricker bought the methamphetamine from Albert Maifea and then sold it to a confidential informant.

“But for Ricker’s involvement, the transaction would not have taken place,” according to court filings.

He also planned a second similar sale, but was arrested first. During the transaction, he had a Ruger .40-caliber revolver, according to federal authorities. That was a violation of his felony parole.

Those same court records claim that Ricker has “significant substance abuse issues” and a lengthy criminal history, including burglary, assault, drug crimes and sexual assault as well as several misdemeanor convictions.

According to state court records, he was found guilty of attempted sexual abuse of a minor, a crime for which he has had to keep current his entry in the sex offender registry.

That case appeared to have began in 2003 when he was charged with sexually abusing two underage girls, sometimes plying them with drugs like marijuana and cocaine and then threatening to kill them if they said anything.

Ricker received a five-year sentence on that and began a court battle over whether time spent on an ankle monitor should count as time served in prison. He later cut the monitor and stayed on the lam 20 days.

In 1994, he was convicted of a drug crime in South Dakota and imprisoned for 10 years.

“It is troubling that after such a lengthy time in custody that the defendant has continued to re-offend with similar conduct,” according to the federal court filings.

As of Thursday afternoon, Ricker was listed as an inmate of the Cook Inlet Pre-Trial Facility in Anchorage.

Ricker’s supplier, Maifea, was sentenced earlier this month to 84 months in prison. Maifea was the subject of a pair of car chases, first in the Valley and then in Anchorage.

The Anchorage chase banged up a handful of vehicles, mostly Anchorage Police Department patrol cars.

The Valley chase ended with Maifea running away from a disabled car, tossing a gun into the woods and getting shot by troopers in the buttocks. The state later ruled that the use of force in that case was justified.

Contact Andrew Wellner at 352-2270 or andrew.wellner@frontiersman.com.