Kenai Man Sentenced to Over 14 Years for Conspiring to Traffic Over Four Kilograms of Fentanyl in Alaska in Homeland Security Task Force Case

ANCHORAGE, Alaska - A Kenai man was sentenced today to over 14 years in prison for conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute over four kilograms of fentanyl in Alaska.

According to court documents, Christian James Rodgers, 34, conspired with at least two other individuals between September 2024 and March 2025, to distribute and possess with intent to distribute fentanyl in Alaska. Rodgers traveled to Nevada and California to meet with his co-conspirators and source of supply to obtain fentanyl that bore Sinaloa cartel markings.

Rodgers instructed a co-conspirator to ship fentanyl to Alaska, and Rodgers himself shipped fentanyl to his residence in Alaska, each containing approximately two kilograms. One of the boxes also contained children's books.

Rodgers also possessed a firearm in furtherance of his drug trafficking conspiracy and after sustaining two prior felony convictions for misconduct involving controlled substances and misconduct involving weapons in Alaska Superior Court, Kenai.

On May 20, 2025, Rodgers, Johnatan Lau-Osuna, and Helmut Mey were indicted by a federal grand jury with one count of conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute controlled substances, Mey and Rodgers were each charged with one count of attempted distribution of controlled substances, and Rodgers was also charged with felon in possession of a firearm. All defendants pleaded guilty to conspiracy to distribute with intent to distribute controlled substances and have been sentenced, with Rodgers receiving the highest sentence of over 14 years today.

Rodgers was a principal fentanyl supplier for the Kenai region. Once arrested, fentanyl in Kenai was sparse and the price for it doubled.

In handing down the sentence, the Court emphasized the disproportionate impact fentanyl has on small Alaskan communities, and how troubling it was that Rodgers' own young daughter tested positive for trace amounts of fentanyl.

"The defendant trafficked a huge quantity of fentanyl into a small Alaska community already suffering from the devastating consequences of this deadly drug," said U.S. Attorney Michael J. Heyman for the District of Alaska. "Today's sentence sends a clear message: We will relentlessly pursue those who bring deadly drugs into our communities, dismantle the trafficking networks that enable them, and hold those responsible accountable for the destruction they cause."

"Mr. Rodgers and his co-conspirators coordinated a transnational and interstate effort to bring substantial quantities of fentanyl into Alaska, which were intended for distribution in a small Alaska community," said Special Agent in Charge Matthew Schlegel of the FBI Anchorage Field Office. "Working alongside our local, state, and federal law enforcement partners, the FBI remains committed to dismantling transnational criminal organizations and holding their members and associates accountable, wherever they operate."

"When law enforcement works together to identify, stop and seize illegal narcotics being distributed throughout Alaska, it makes all our communities safer," said USPIS Seattle Division Acting Inspector in Charge Jarrod Resendez. "The Postal Inspection Service continues to ensure that the U.S. Postal Service is not a tool for distributing deadly and illicit narcotics in Alaska. We thank our state, local and federal partners for all their efforts to aggressively disrupt the flow of drugs during this operation and moving forward."

"Your Alaska State Troopers are working tirelessly with our local, state, and federal law enforcement partners to hold those who traffic dangerous drugs accountable for their actions," said Alaska State Trooper Statewide Drug Enforcement Commander Daron Cooper. "Fentanyl continues to devastate families and communities across Alaska, and stopping the flow of these deadly drugs into our state remains a top priority for the Alaska State Troopers."

This case was investigated by the FBI Anchorage Field Office, USPIS Anchorage Domicile, and Alaska State Troopers through the Alaska High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area (HIDTA) Initiative's Southcentral Area-Wide Narcotics (SCAN) team, with assistance from the Anchorage Police Department.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Mac Caille Petursson prosecuted the case.

This case was brought as part of the Alaska Parcel Interdiction Initiative, a statewide partnership between the U.S. Attorney's Office, U.S. Postal Inspection Service, Alaska State Troopers and other local law enforcement to disrupt the flow of dangerous narcotics into Alaska through the mail. Together, the agencies work tirelessly to interdict suspicious U.S. Postal Service and other carriers' parcels, with a goal of seizing narcotics before they enter communities and prosecuting those responsible for trafficking drugs to Alaska.

This prosecution is part of the Homeland Security Task Force (HSTF) initiative established by Executive Order 14159, Protecting the American People Against Invasion. The HSTF is a whole-of-government partnership dedicated to eliminating criminal cartels, foreign gangs, transnational criminal organizations, and human smuggling and trafficking rings operating in the United States and abroad. Through historic interagency collaboration, the HSTF directs the full might of United States law enforcement towards identifying, investigating, and prosecuting the full spectrum of crimes committed by these organizations, which have long fueled violence and instability within our borders. In performing this work, the HSTF places special emphasis on investigating and prosecuting those engaged in child trafficking or other crimes involving children. The HSTF further utilizes all available tools to prosecute and remove the most violent criminal aliens from the United States. HSTF Region One comprises agents and officers from Federal Bureau of Investigation; U.S. Department of Homeland Security, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, Homeland Security Investigations - Seattle; the United States Attorney's Office(s) for the Districts of Alaska, Idaho, Oregon, Eastern Washington, and Western Washington; the Drug Enforcement Administration; Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives; U.S. Marshals Service; Internal Revenue Service - Criminal Investigation Division; U.S. Postal Inspection Service; U.S. Customs and Border Protection (CBP); CBP - Office of Field Operations; CBP - Air & Marine Operations; U.S. Border Patrol; U.S. Coast Guard, Coast Guard Investigative Service; and Transportation Security Administration, Law Enforcement/Federal Air Marshal Service, with the prosecution being led by the United States Attorney's Office for the District of Alaska.

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