A 35-year-old man admitted Friday to attempting to possess 50 grams or more of methamphetamine with intent to distribute it in Ketchikan.
That’s a federal crime that has a mandatory minimum sentence of 10 years in prison. The maximum possible penalty is life in prison.
Neptali Yadao Dadia, a naturalized U.S. citizen originally from the Philippines, changed his plea in U.S. District Court in Juneau before Judge Timothy Burgess. He will be sentenced in May.
According to charging documents, Dadia sent a package containing 217 grams of methamphetamine — that was 98 percent pure — from Las Vegas to Ketchikan via U.S. Postal Service Express Mail. The package was intercepted by the U.S. Postal Inspection Service on Oct. 12, 2011. Court documents did not identify the person who received the package in Ketchikan.
Dadia was indicted in January of this year by a federal grand jury in Juneau on the sole count of “attempted possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine.”
Court records indicate Dadia resided in Ketchikan, but it was not clear where he was living at the time of his arrest. He told the judge while in Alaska, he worked in fishing canneries and at Walmart. Before that, he said he worked on a pineapple plantation in Hawaii.
• Contact reporter Emily Russo Miller at 523-2263 or at emily.miller@juneauempire.com.
Comments (3)
Add commentHow much gets through?
From the perspective of one who reads the Empire, mailing meth seems to be a really stupid means of distribution. Maybe there's much more that gets through without being intercepted? Does the Postal Service or a law enforcement entity have any estimates or best guesses as to the percentage of illegal drugs that is stopped?
Alright, one less dirtbag to
Alright, one less dirtbag to stink up our communities. I hope the judge will seriously throw the book at him. Let him out of prison at age 58. Getting things together then will be a blast for him. I am willing to look the other way and laugh at pot dealers, but meth dealers deserve an especially hot place in hell--right next to the stinky toilets. I hope this guy gets locked away and forgotten about for many years.
Tougher criminal punishment
We need harsher criminal punishment for drug dealer in Alaska. People who are convicted of dealth meth, crack and other narcotics should not only serve jail time but need to serve comminity service in the communities they hurt. Make these scum bags go into the school and talk about the evils of drugs. Make them pick up trash along the road, do something...allowing them to sit in jail and get three meals a day and exericse and free cable is giving them the wrong message.