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Press Release

Inmate, Girlfriend Sentenced to Federal Prison for Attempting to Smuggle Drugs into Mat-Su Pretrial

For Immediate Release
U.S. Attorney's Office, District of Alaska
Inmate’s Second Conviction for Attempting to Smuggle Drugs into an Alaska Prison

Anchorage, Alaska – U.S. Attorney Bryan Schroder announced today that two Alaska residents have been sentenced to federal prison for attempting to smuggle drugs into the State of Alaska Department of Corrections (DOC) Mat-Su Pretrial Correctional Facility (Mat-Su Pretrial) in Palmer. 

Joshua Jacob Reed, 31, an inmate at Mat-Su Pretrial at the time of the offense, was sentenced today by Chief U.S. District Judge Timothy M. Burgess to serve 33 months in federal prison, followed by three years of supervised release, for attempting to possess contraband in prison.  Reed’s federal prison sentence is to be served consecutively to the state sentence he is currently serving for trying to smuggle drugs into another DOC facility in 2016.  Reed is a four-time felon, and has 14 prior convictions in all.

Reed’s then-girlfriend and co-defendant Olivia Danielle Blake, 27, of Wasilla, was sentenced by Chief Judge Burgess on Sept. 24, 2018, to serve five months in prison, followed by three years of supervised release, for distribution of a controlled substance.  Blake had no criminal history prior to this offense.

According to court documents, on Feb. 28, 2017, Blake attempted to pass drugs to Reed, who was an inmate at Mat-Su Pretrial at the time.  Blake did so at Reed’s direction on the morning that Reed was to stand trial in State of Alaska v. Reed, 3PA-16-824CR, for attempting to smuggle drugs into DOC’s Goose Creek Correctional Center when he was incarcerated there in January 2016.  Trial in that case was set to begin the morning of Feb. 28, 2017.  The day before, Reed spoke with Blake and directed her to buy him clothes to wear in court during his trial.  In coded language, Reed told Blake to hide drugs inside the shoes she brought him, and to deliver the items to Mat-Su Pretrial the following morning. 

On the morning of Feb. 28, 2017, Blake arrived at Mat-Su Pretrial and dropped off a bag for Reed, which contained a pair of shoes, clothes, and a Walmart receipt showing the items purchased at 4:30 a.m. that morning.  When Mat-Su Pretrial personnel searched the bag before passing it to Reed, they detected the odor of glue in the shoes and subsequently discovered the drugs.  In all, DOC personnel found and seized the following hidden beneath the left shoe’s insole: (1) 2.6 grams of methamphetamine, (2) 0.41 grams of heroin, and (3) a quantity of Buprenorphine, which is one of the narcotic drugs in Suboxone.

In imposing sentence as to Reed, Chief Judge Burgess recognized how “very dangerous” the presence of drugs in our prison system is and the seriousness of the offenses committed by Reed and Blake.    

The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) conducted the investigation, with assistance from DOC and the Alaska State Troopers (AST), leading to the successful prosecution of this case.  This case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Andrea W. Hattan.

Updated October 4, 2018

Topic
Drug Trafficking
Component