This Viewpoint summarizes a 2021 MMWR report documenting a concerning rise in illicit and synthetic opioid overdose deaths in the US between 2013 and 2019 and p
Fairbanks Man Sentenced to 9 Years in Prison for Possession of Stolen Firearm and Methamphetamine Trafficking
Anchorage, Alaska – U.S. Attorney Bryan Schroder announced that Brian James Tepner, 48, of Fairbanks, Alaska, has been sentenced to 108 months in federal prison followed by 8 years of supervised release on charges of possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine and for being a felon in possession of a stolen firearm.
At 3:30 a.m. on March 22, 2019, Tepner was found slumped over in the driver’s seat of a vehicle parked at a Sourdough Fuel station in Fairbanks. In plain view, Alaska State Troopers saw an open container of alcohol, hypodermic needles, and a spoon with burnt heroin residue. Troopers obtained a search warrant for the vehicle and seized 191 grams of methamphetamine, three grams of heroin, and a stolen S&W .22 caliber pistol. Troopers also located drug dealing paraphernalia, including ledgers, two scales, and multiple plastic baggies and cell phones.