A Juneau resident has been charged with three felony counts of dealing cocaine in Juneau, according to court documents.
Jose Rodriguez Rivera, 49, was arrested in downtown Juneau Tuesday evening after law enforcement conducted three controlled drug buys in the past two weeks. He appeared before Juneau District Court Judge Keith Levy for his first court appearance Wednesday.
Sgt. Chris Russell, an investigator with Southeast Alaska Cities Against Drugs Task Force (SEACAD), which led the investigation in this case, says this was actually one of the smaller drug busts he’s participated in. In a phone interview, Russell described Rivera as a street-level drug dealer.
Still, Rivera is facing serious charges and prosecutors say their case is strong.
“The strength of the state’s case in this situation is fairly strong,” Assistant District Attorney Amy Williams said in court during bail arguments. “Each of those sales were observed by law enforcement. When interviewed by law enforcement, Rivera admitted that he had made the sales.”
The District Attorney’s Office charged Rivera with three counts of third-degree drug misconduct. That’s a class ‘B’ felony that can carry up 10 years in prison and a $100,000 fine. That means if Rivera is convicted, he could be facing up to 30 years of jail time.
According to an affidavit, Rivera allegedly sold a confidential SEACAD informant two bags of cocaine, weighing 2.7 grams, for $240 on Aug. 30 at the Imperial Billiard & Bar on Front Street. The affidavit charges one of the bags tested field positive for cocaine.
The second controlled buy took place at the corner of Ferry and Marine Way last Wednesday. The affidavit charges Rivera sold the informant five bags of cocaine, weighing 5.4 grams, for $600. One of those bags also tested field positive for cocaine, according to the affidavit.
Officers contacted Rivera Tuesday after the third controlled drug buy in the lower level of the Marine View Parking Garage near the same downtown intersection. The affidavit alleges Rivera admitted to investigators that he sold the cocaine after the informant purchased another 5.5 grams.
In court on Wednesday, Levy ordered Rivera be held in custody on $15,000 bond, per prosecutors’ request.
Williams argued Rivera presented a flight risk since he had ties to Mexico. Williams said she believed Rivera was a Mexican citizen who is a permanent resident of the state of Alaska. She noted that he does not have any criminal history in Alaska.
Russell said Rivera was a Juneau resident. It wasn’t clear how long Rivera has been lived in Juneau or Alaska. Rivera told the judge in broken English during a financial inquiry that he used to work making picture frames and also in a pizza parlor.
Levy found Rivera qualified for court-appointed counsel and appointed the public defender agency to represent him. Assistant Public Defender Timothy Ayer reserved his bail arguments for a later court date.
Rivera is scheduled to appear in court for a preliminary hearing next Friday. The judge advised him that if he is indicted before then, that hearing will be vacated.
SEACAD operates under the umbrella of the Alaska Bureau of Investigation. Russell says the Juneau Police Department, an agent with the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and an Alaska State Trooper assisted SEACAD with Rivera’s arrest.
• Contact reporter Emily Russo Miller at 523-2263 or at emily.miller@juneauempire.com.
Comments (23)
Add commentdeport him
deport him
There will be more
With Obama's illegal alien amnesty program in full swing, we will be seeing many more of this guy's type.
small fish
Less than $1000 in sales... where's the guy with $1 million dollars in drug sales?
The cops get front page coverage for catching a petty dealer. Very weak.
Sure seems like Juneau has more than its fair share of drug
trafficking.
The President's 'amnesty' program, as I understand it, is designed to fast-track the children of illegal aliens towards citizenship. America has been the only home these kids have ever known and I for one applaud the President for allowing them to come out of the shadows to walk amongst their peers with pride.
Banditrider, check your facts
Banditrider, check your facts before commenting. Otherwise you show yourself to be a fool. Amnestry program is for young people with a clean record. He is only doing the anmesty program because it is impossible to get any legislation passed by the critters in congress.
I respect your opinion Ken
I respect your opinion Ken regarding amnesty but I will give you a different view. I married a Filipina two years ago and trying to get visas for her two children to bring them here to the USA, playing by the rules in a lawful manner, has been extremely frustrating and expensive. By the very definition of the word 'illegal' these people have broken our laws. We can get all teary eyed and tell ourselves that they are simply trying to find a better life for themselves and their children but at the end of the day, they have come to our country illegally, with no respect for our laws. I certainly am for anyone seeking to better themselves but not at the expense of breaking the law. I have broken the law when I was a younger man and I adhered to our law and judicial system. And I was born in the USA.....why should anyone not born here be above that?
Banditrider, do tell.
Can you tell me more about the illegal amnesty in full swing. I always suspected that Obama was trying to allow a lot more people who deal cocaine get in the country, but now that I've found your comment, I know it's true.
My instinct is to say leave
My instinct is to say leave him in LCCC for a lengthy period, it is hell enough in there from the sounds of it. However, I agree that he should be deported.
I also agree with Lat58, if they had this guy selling cocaine on 3 different occasions, he clearly had (has) immediate sources and can come up with the stuff without problem. Is money that short to fund an investigation to work up the chain? So, this menace who by SEACAD's own admission is a street level dealer and this was one of the smaller busts. Why not take the next step and get to who his supplier is as that person, or people, are still running Juneau's streets and certainly by now have replaced Rivera with another "street level" dealer, or dealers. The arrest is a positive however for all of their efforts it really doesn't seem to be the progress Juneau needs with the drug issues way out of control.
Making this guy give up his source makes sense.....
that's why it didn't happen! Not putting his photo on the front page would take forethought - something local law enforcement uses sparingly. They would rather try to make it look like they are doing something!
I could give them the names of a few dealers right now...but busting them wouldn't solve anything - just more business for their competitor. Let's shut down the import lanes and make a big dent in the drugs in this town!
charleylarson: I see your point of view.
There should be equal treatment and costs.
You and your wife followed the rules.
The illegals entering our country should not be given a free pass...but the kids brought in tow? Look ten, twenty years down the road...are these high school and college graduates to be relegated to running from ICE, working under the table and denied lawful marriages, health care and retirement benefits because their folks broke the law decades before?
Do we send 'illegal' descendants back to fend for themselves?
Ken, Yes! We should! If I go
Ken, Yes! We should! If I go break into a bank, and manage to hide out there for a long enough time, do I get the money? The fact that they evaded detection for so long does not make it right.
Charley, I have a friend who
Charley, I have a friend who married a Japanese woman and had a child in Japan, then decided to move back to the states. I was appalled at the stuff he has had to go through and how much it costs! It took years and thousands of dollars. I suggested he travel to Mexico, then cross at night. Then he would be given the keys to the country...
kpawsuh - to use your analogy.....
If you robbed the bank but brought a baby with you, does the baby go to jail?
I'm actually in the middle on this. I think the problem with a wholesale forgiveness for kids is this: First - what is the cutoff age, and Second - if you are going to grant citizenship to those kids, then I think you have to NOT allow those kids to turn around and bring in their entire families, giving the parents a path to citizenship. This would, I think, compound the problem of pregnant women coming here, or families getting pregnant here, in order to gain citizenship.
Awww come on.....
Relax Jose, If that’s all you sold them, When you get to court next Friday offer the DA a deal where you cop to a misdemeanor and take "Time Served". When you consider what they just gave the guy who was dealing more than a quarter million dollars in heroin in Juneau every year, the District attorney ought to jump all over an offer like that.
kpawsuh,Your friend
kpawsuh,
Your friend probably didn't file his income tax for a few years or something like that. If he had all of his ducks lined up bringing a Japanese woman to whom he'd been married to for a few years should have been a snap. Obviously, your friend has some skeletons in his closet that INS found out about.
Clearly, this guy didn't want
Clearly, this guy didn't want to rat out the higher ups. JPD and the rest of the drug narcs would have tried to flip him when they first busted him. He wouldn't squeal so they decided to hang a wooden suit on him. Tough luck Jose'!
Fume, nope. He had to sign
Fume, nope. He had to sign waivers saying he would never claim welfare or any assistance like that, he must maintain a job paying $25k, etc. It took years.
I say we turn Jose over to
I say we turn Jose over to the Mexican Federales, and loudly proclaim that they take good care of him, as he is a key witness against the cartels...
Unless he reveals all his suppliers as far up the food chain as he can
Another option would be to
Another option would be to have the cops drive him to where a bunch of suspected druggers are hanging out. Kick him out of the car and then hand him twenty bucks and loudly say "Thanks for the information!"
Swimmergirl: Very good point, and I agree with the caveat.
And I can see how some well meaning constitutionalist will shoot that caveat down in a lawsuit.
charleylarson's experiences, though, sheds some light upon the issue. (It was tough for me, an American citizen, to get my family into America. Why should these kids get a break?)
As frustrating and expensive (and I am not saying it should be) as it was for charleylarson his children did not risk bad treatment from human traffickers across the border, possible indentured servitude into the sex trade, perhaps a sad boating accident never recorded, some forgotten shipping container or unmarked grave (time allowed) in the desert? $10,000 upfront, in cash, non-refundable, for the experience.
Then of course there are the years of subterfuge.
These kids did not get into America at no cost.
charleylarson: not to worry. The federal bureaucracy cannot handle this. It is not going to be successful.
Free counsel?
"Levy found Rivera qualified for court-appointed counsel"
With a known minimum income of over 1400 dollars in the past 2 weeks. That is only from JPD. Stop giving free counsel to drug dealers that make more money than working people. People making millions of tax free dollars qualify for welfare.
Public Defenders, or "court
Public Defenders, or "court appointed counsel", have no shortage of work in Juneau for sure. I agree with akman59 to a tee.
The Source of the Problem
I think the source of the problem is really the addicts themselves; but also realize that availability can create new customers for the dealers. We could focus on shutting down the routes the drugs come in, but if there is still a "need" for the supply, they will simply find a work around. From what I hear people make a lot of money off of drugs in this City, and those dollar signs blind individuals. The demand plus the profit margin is too tempting for people and they will continue to attempt to bring in the drugs. If we can get the demand down, there would be no point in smugglers to risk jail time; because they wouldn't make as much money. I think voluntary and mandatory treatment is a good start, but the punishment for bringing in heroin and cocaine (and pills, or whatever) to Juneau (and S.E.) should be increased to be more of a deterrent. Even more education could help downsize people's want for drugs, perhaps fighting depression is the answer; but we need to combat the addiction, at least is how I see beating this, or at least reducing its ill effects on our people and our City.
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