A 29-year-old Juneau man has been charged with aiding and abetting possession of heroin with the intent to deliver.
Gregory O. Brown Jr. had his first court appearance on Wednesday in Juneau Superior Court. Judge Philip Pallenberg entered a not guilty plea on his behalf.
Brown was indicted on Dec. 28 on one count of second-degree aiding and abetting the possession and intended delivery of heroin on Feb. 14, 2011. That’s a class ‘A’ felony that can carry up to 20 years in prison and/or a $250,000 fine.
On that date in 2011, local, state and federal law enforcement officers intercepted a drug mule at the Juneau International Airport who was transporting 39 grams of heroin worth about $39,000 from Portland to Juneau, police said at the time.
The mule, Madelyn Brooks, then 22, has since pleaded guilty to a felony drug charge, and she was sentenced in April 2012 to serve one year in rehab in lieu of jail time.
During Wednesday’s hearing, District Attorney David Brower requested Brown’s bail be set at $10,000 cash, citing a 2011 DUI case wherein Brown failed to appear in court, a misdemeanor offense. Both those DUI and failure to appear cases are still open and pending in court.
Pallenberg declined to set the bail amount that high and instead set it at $2,500, half appearance, half performance. Pallenberg also appointed the Public Defender Agency to represent Brown.
The next hearing in the case is scheduled for Friday.
Electronic court records show Brown was previously convicted of a drug charge in 2004 and received a suspended jail sentence of three years. He ended up serving two years of that sentence when he was found guilty of violating probation, according to records.
• Contact reporter Emily Russo Miller at 523-2263 or at emily.miller@juneauempire.com.
Comments (13)
Add commentHeroin
Well, Juneau, here we go again. Let's kick back and see how this one plays out. Previous drug charges, violating parole, failure to appear, open and pending charges already on the table and a reduced bail. Nice.
The path
It would be interesting to follow this guy's path up to this point. What decisions did he make in life that landed him here? Did he graduate from HS? Pursue an education beyond HS? What kind of jobs did he work? Ever volunteer in the community? How did he first become involved in drugs?
Clearly he's a lost cause and needs to experience the consequences of his decisions, but maybe we could learn from him and steer others onto a different path. That would be a lot cheaper than courts and public defenders and prison.
2 months behind bars? Any
2 months behind bars? Any one else wanna bet what his actual jail time will be?
2 Years?
It took 2 years to make this arrest? Really? Even though his girlfriend was the mule? how long does it take to put the evidence together for crying out loud. And only $2500 bail for someone with a record who has been a no show to court before. Lets hope he gets plenty of time because this guy has been putting drugs on Juneaus's streets for a LONG time. He got a sweet deal on his last drug charge. Lets hope that doesn't happen again. Please no more deals for these folks - make it STOP.
@Lat58 - I have the same
@Lat58 - I have the same thoughts and questions every time I read about these heroin and meth stories. Many of those we have read about in the past year plus were hooked before getting out of HS, never finished HS but tried the alt. HS route. I'm from the pot generation and I realize there are arguments about that as well. Sure, in the early / mid 80's there were those on speed and once in a while you would hear cocaine mentioned but it really was rare, mostly pot. Now, there seems to be the better part of an entire generation exposed to heroin, meth, oxy etc. and it is rampant.
@kpawsuh - With the track record in the Juneau court system, my money is with you, you'll win your bet. I'm far from a legal expert but I do not understand why the Judge dropped the AG recommended bail by 75 pct. for a guy with his track record.
I second that
Yes no more deals. But one has to wonder about all the Confidential Investigations of reported drug activity in the daily police bulletins?
And in Fairbanks
A man is sentenced to 10 years for growing pot? Where is the justice?
Times change
I remember when they use to find heroin dealers in springtime when the snow melted!
pjcad
Havent you heard? Marijuana is more dangerous than heroin, assualt rifles, vehicles, fast food and coconuts combined.
On a serious note- I agree with you, that's insane. You can overdose from a tiny bit of heroine but no matter how much weed you smoke, you will never overdose. Coconuts kill more people a year than marijuana does.
By keeping it illegal, we are making it easier for kids to obtain it and we are employing the mexican cartel.
Coconuts
People should really stop smoking coconuts - sounds really dangerous!
Coconuts
Not smoking them, silly.. By coconuts falling off of trees. Ever hear of a marijunan leaf falling off and hitting someone in the head?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Gu3Oj0hMcVY
Superhero, Coconuts have
Superhero,
Coconuts have killed more people than asbestos also…Problem is it’s the cancer, heart disease, lung disease, car wrecks, etc… that’s goes with it.