Fairbanks man charged with trafficking firearms, cocaine, and with possessing a machinegun during a drug trafficking crime

FAIRBANKS, Alaska – A federal grand jury in Alaska returned an indictment last week charging a Fairbanks man with illegally trafficking firearms, distributing cocaine, and with carrying a machinegun during a drug trafficking crime.

U.S. Attorney's Office, District of Alaska

According to court documents, from September 2024 to August 2025, Mason Lanon, 22, willfully engaged in the business of dealing firearms while not being a licensed firearms dealer.

The indictment also alleges that on Aug. 7, 2025, Lanon distributed cocaine and possessed a pistol with a Glock-type machinegun conversion device in furtherance of trafficking the cocaine.

Lanon is charged with one count of unlicensed dealing in firearms, one count of distribution of a controlled substance and one count of carrying a machinegun during a drug trafficking crime. Lanon is scheduled to make his initial court appearance Nov. 25, 2025, before U.S. Magistrate Judge Oravec of the U.S. District Court for the District of Alaska. If convicted, he faces 30 years to life in prison. A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.

U.S. Attorney Michael J. Heyman of the District of Alaska, Acting Special Agent in Charge Eric Jackson of the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives (ATF) Seattle Field Division, Alaska State Trooper Colonel Maurice Hughes and Chief Ron Dupee of the Fairbanks Police Department made the announcement.

The ATF Anchorage Field Office, Alaska State Troopers and Fairbanks Police Department are investigating the case, with assistance from the DEA Anchorage Field Office. If anyone has any information regarding Lanon’s alleged firearms dealing, please contact the ATF at (907) 921-6131.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Carly Vosacek is prosecuting the case.

An indictment is merely an allegation, and all defendants are presumed innocent until proven guilty beyond a reasonable doubt in a court of law.

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