Anchorage Man Sentenced to 15 Years’ Imprionsment and 15 Years’ Supervised Release for Drug Trafficking

ANCHORAGE—U.S. Attorney Karen L. Loeffler announced today that an Anchorage man was sentenced in federal court in Anchorage on four counts of drug trafficking.

On October 2, 2012, Senior U.S. District Court Judge James K. Singleton sentenced Duane Byron Fields, a.k.a. “Fat Daddy,” “Fats,” 40, of Anchorage, Alaska, to 180 months in prison for each count of conviction and imposed an enhanced term of 180 months of supervised release. On July 27, 2012, an Anchorage jury found Fields guilty of conspiracy to distribute 500 grams or more of cocaine, a quantity of cocaine base, and a quantity of heroin, as well as two counts of distribution of cocaine and one count of possession with intent to distribute the same.

According to Assistant U.S. Attorney Stephan A. Collins, who prosecuted the case, between December 2011 and January 2012, Fields was dealing these drugs in a trailer located on Penland Parkway in Anchorage. On two occasions, in order to insulate himself from police detection, Fields sent his baby sister, Chantrelle Bingham, and his “Uncle” Homer Everette Haynes to deliver ounce quantities of cocaine for him. The state of Alaska convicted Bingham of an offense related to that delivery, and Haynes pleaded guilty in federal court to making a delivery. On October 1, 2012, Judge Singleton sentence Haynes to serve 22 months in prison. On January 25, 2012, the Anchorage Police Department Special Assignment Unit executed a search warrant at the trailer Fields was using and found the remnants a “brick” (a brick is the equivalent of 1,000 grams) of cocaine and a firearm that had been reported stolen on January 23 in the bedroom that Fields was using as his “office.” The officers also found, strewn throughout the house, numerous bags of cocaine and heroin, and they found that Fields had also hidden a large amount of heroin and cocaine in his underwear.

Based upon Fields’ 1998 federal conviction for drug trafficking and for carrying a firearm while drug trafficking, he faced a mandatory minimum sentence of 10 years in prison and a minimum term of eight years of supervised release. Because Fields had an extensive criminal history, which included a state conviction for committing a violent assault during which he shot another man in the head, AUSA Collins urged Judge Singleton to impose a sentence higher than 10 years of imprisonment as well as a term of supervised release greater than eight years. Judge Singleton ultimately concluded that based upon the nature and frequency Fields’ past crimes, his history of failing to abide by the conditions of previous terms of probation and supervised release, and that his 1998 federal sentence of 13 years had little deterrent effect, a sentence of 15 years’ imprisonment was necessary to protect the public from Fields. There is no parole in the federal system. Judge Singleton also imposed a term of 15 years of supervised release to follow Fields’ sentence of imprisonment.

Ms. Loeffler commends the Anchorage Police Department-Special Assignment Unit;the Federal Bureau of Investigations-Safe Streets Unit; and the Federal Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives for the investigation of this case.