Wasilla man pleads guilty to dealing synthetic drugs

ANCHORAGE — A drug dealer whose China-manufactured synthetic drugs caused a 2012 overdose pleaded guilty Friday to federal drug charges.

Robin Gattis, 20, of Wasilla, son of state Rep. Lynn Gattis, pleaded guilty to conspiracy to import a controlled substance, specifically methylone, a drug that is supposed to mimic the effects of ecstasy or MDMA, according to a press release from the U.S. Attorney’s office in Anchorage.

Lynn Gattis’ chief of staff, Erick Cordero, sent a text message to media Friday.

“Rep. Lynn Gattis and her husband appreciate everyone’s prayers. The family also appreciates their privacy during this difficult time,” he wrote.

As for the case against her son, it was outlined in the U.S. Attorney’s Office press release.

“In a plea agreement filed with the court, Gattis admitted that he was the leader and organizer of the conspiracy, that he directly imported the drugs from China and that he repeatedly wired money to China or directed others to do so in order to pay for drugs,” the press release states. “He also admitted that he engaged in drug dealing as a livelihood, that he knowingly used persons under age 18 to assist in the crime, that he distributed the drugs to persons under 18 and that he distributed methylone to MGS, who died of a methylone overdose in April 2012 in Anchorage.”

“MGS” are the initials of the person who died of an overdose of drugs distributed by Gattis.

Gattis faces up to 20 years in a federal prison and up to $1 million in fines. He had been charged with six other co-defendants — Chad Cameron, 18, of Palmer; Stephen Kimbrell, 20, of Soldotna; Kevin Rupp, 21, of Anchorage; Shane O’Hare, 23, of Wasilla; Bren Marx, 20, of Palmer; and Haylee Hays, 19, of Anchorage.

Federal prosecutors described Gattis as the ringleader and said he was the last to enter a guilty plea. His sentencing hearing is set for Nov. 6 in Anchorage.

Gattis was first arrested in Feburary 2012 following a controlled delivery of drugs he’d ordered was intercepted by law enforcement. That arrest was described in the plea agreement he signed Friday.

“On Feb. 28, 2012, Gattis, upon his release from jail, emailed the supplier in China and said that, ‘the last package you sent was intercepted by homeland security and I was arrested. … Is there any way I can have it resent to a different name and address or something if I found one?’”

After that arrest, he was charged in state court, but the case there fell apart after it was discovered that the drugs Gattis imported weren’t illegal under Alaska law. The synthetic drugs can be made to mimic marijuana, cocaine and other drugs, as well as ecstasy. Many are available online or in retail stores and sold as innocuous sounding products like “bath salts” or “incense.”

Though they’re not illegal under state law, they have been under federal law, at least since October 2011, a date that comes up in the plea agreement, which says Gattis tried to get as much of it as he could before the feds outlawed it.

Clearly, though, for some reason he believed his concerns were unwarranted. Numerous shipments are listed between that date and his eventual re-arrest in July 2012

In April 2012, Gattis, Rupp and MGS got hold of 150 grams of the Chinese methylone and brought it to a home on Lake Otis Parkway in Anchorage, where they threw a three-day party with Gattis distributing the drugs to people there.

“On or about April 15-16, 2012, Gattis realized that MGS was in distress from … the methylone,” the change of plea documents say. “During this time, Gattis did not summon emergency medical services or other help for MGS and Gattis fled the scene.”

He later wrote to his Chinese supplier, an email the document quotes:

“My best friend took the M1 (methylone) I got and died last night, we think it was a reaction with Tylenol and he took too much or something, but people have been saying it feels different from last time. I’m going to throw away the rest and I don’t think I’ll be ordering from you again, thank you for your service though, and if there’s any way I can get my money refunded it would help a lot in the coming months, but you don’t have to.”

That resolve apparently didn’t last very long.

“On May 11, 2012, Gattis emailed the source of supply in China and said, ‘Sorry for the alarming email before …’ and asking ‘how much M1 can you offer?’”

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