Arizona Men Arrested, Indicted for Trafficking Fentanyl to Alaska

ANCHORAGE, Alaska – Two Arizona men were arrested over the last three weeks on warrants from a federal indictment charging them with trafficking fentanyl to Alaska.

According to court proceedings, a federal grand jury returned an indictment on July 18 charging Odarious Shaw, 24, and Corrion James, 25, with allegedly distributing large amounts of fentanyl to Alaska from their home state of Arizona over a four-month period. James was arrested at the Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport when he arrived carrying a package of 40,000 fentanyl pills, and Shaw was arrested in Arizona.

James and Shaw are charged with one count conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute controlled substances in violation of 21 U.S.C. §846 and 841(a)(1), (b)(1)(A), and one count possession of a controlled substance with intent to distribute in violation of 21 U.S.C. §841(a)(1), (b)(1)(A). If convicted, Shaw faces a mandatory minimum penalty of 10 years 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 S. Lane Tucker of the District of Alaska; Statewide Drug Enforcement Unit Commander Captain Cornelius Sims of the Alaska State Troopers; and Special Agent in Charge Antony Jung of the FBI Anchorage Field Office made the announcement.

The Alaska State Troopers, Anchorage Police Department and the FBI are investigating the case as part of the FBI Safe Streets Task Force and the Alaska High-Intensity Drug Trafficking Area (HIDTA) initiative.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Christopher Schroeder 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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