ANCHORAGE, Alaska — A Kenai man has been sentenced to more than 14 years in federal prison for conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute more than four kilograms of fentanyl in Alaska, the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Alaska announced.

Source: U.S. Department of Justice, U.S. Attorney's Office, District of Alaska

According to court documents, Christian James Rodgers, 34, conspired with at least two other people between September 2024 and March 2025 to distribute and possess with intent to distribute fentanyl in Alaska. Rodgers travelled to Nevada and California to meet his co-conspirators and his source of supply to obtain fentanyl that bore Sinaloa cartel markings, prosecutors said. He instructed a co-conspirator to ship fentanyl to Alaska, and shipped fentanyl to his own residence in Alaska himself — each shipment containing approximately two kilograms. One of the boxes also contained children's books.

Source: Last Frontier News, Oct. 22, 2026

Rodgers also possessed a firearm in furtherance of the drug trafficking conspiracy, after two prior felony convictions in Alaska Superior Court in Kenai for misconduct involving controlled substances and misconduct involving weapons, the Justice Department said.

On May 20, 2025, Rodgers, Johnatan Lau-Osuna and Helmut Mey were indicted by a federal grand jury. All of the defendants pleaded guilty to conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute controlled substances and have been sentenced, with Rodgers receiving the highest sentence of more than 14 years, according to the department.

Prosecutors said Rodgers was a principal fentanyl supplier for the Kenai region: after his arrest, fentanyl became sparse in Kenai and its street price doubled. The case was investigated by the FBI's Anchorage Field Office, the U.S. Postal Inspection Service and Alaska State Troopers through a regional narcotics task force, the department said.