The final defendant in a large-scale Southeast Alaska drug trafficking operation pleaded guilty on June 17 to conspiring to traffic drugs and launder money connected to a transnational enterprise that includes more than 60 people who have been charged with crimes.
Acting U.S. Attorney William Narus of the District of Oregon made the announcement.
According to court documents, on Aug. 24, 2022, U.S. Postal inspectors seized a suspicious package addressed to Patricia Seal-Uttke, 32, of Ketchikan, and discovered nearly 500 grams of heroin and over 430 grams of methamphetamine. Law enforcement conducted a controlled delivery of the package and co-conspirator Larry Marsden picked up the package before being stopped by officials.
Seal-Uttke’s actions were only a small part of a much larger scheme. Other court documents in this case explain that Seal-Uttke’s co-conspirator Karly Fuller recruited individuals to work for the drug trafficking enterprise and managed their operations. It is alleged that the enterprise was ultimately directed by an inmate in a California prison.
Other co-conspirators shipped parcels containing controlled substances from California and other parts of Alaska to various places in Southeast Alaska, mainly Sitka and Ketchikan, for distribution on behalf of the drug trafficking enterprise. On various occasions, law enforcement officials seized parcels containing hundreds to thousands of illegal fentanyl pills and hundreds of grams of methamphetamine, heroin and cocaine. According to related court documents, Fuller, Seal-Uttke, Marsden and other co-conspirators in this case were responsible for trafficking over 2.1 kilograms of fentanyl, over 2.2 kilograms of methamphetamine, over 500 grams of heroin and over 55 grams of cocaine through the mail to Southeast Alaska in the course of a single month in 2022.
Court documents further explain that between June 2022 and July 2023, Fuller, Seal-Uttke, Marsden, and co-conspirators Julia Brusell and Stormy Cleveland attempted to launder over $150,000 in drug proceeds. The laundering involved money orders, wire transfers, digital money transferring applications and physically mailing parcels containing drug proceeds from Alaska to co-conspirators in California and Mexico.
Seal-Uttke is scheduled to be sentenced on Sept. 24, and faces up to 20 years in prison.
Co-defendants in this case are as follows:
Karly Fuller, 31, of Sitka, pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute controlled substances and one count of money laundering conspiracy on April 23, 2025. Fuller is scheduled to be sentenced on Sept. 3, 2025, and faces up to 20 years in prison.
Larry Marsden, 43, of Ketchikan, pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute controlled substances and one count of money laundering conspiracy on Dec. 9, 2024. On March 12, 2025, Marsden was sentenced to 66 months’ imprisonment and will serve three years on supervised release after her release from prison.
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Stormy Cleveland, 39, of Ketchikan, pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute controlled substances and one count of money laundering conspiracy on Nov. 15, 2024. On March 25, 2025, Cleveland was sentenced to 135 months’ imprisonment and will serve five years on supervised release after her release from prison.
Mario Klanott, 38, of Sitka, pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute controlled substances on June 13, 2025. Klanott is scheduled to be sentenced on Sept. 9, 2025, and faces up to 20 years in prison.
Douglas Vanmeter, 34, of Sitka, pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute controlled substances on May 8, 2025. Vanmeter is scheduled to be sentenced on Aug. 6, 2025, and faces up to 20 years in prison.
Sara Orr, 34, of Ketchikan, pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute controlled substances on June 6, 2025. Orr is scheduled to be sentenced on Sept. 9, 2025, and faces up to 20 years in prison.
Julia Brusell, 43, of Ketchikan, pleaded guilty to one count of money laundering conspiracy on Nov. 15, 2024. On March 17, 2025, Brusell was sentenced to time served and will serve two years on supervised release.
The Drug Enforcement Administration Seattle Field Division and Anchorage District Office, IRS Criminal Investigation Seattle Field Office, U.S. Postal Inspection Service Seattle Division and Anchorage Domicile, FBI Anchorage Field Office and Alaska State Troopers, with significant law enforcement support from the U.S. Marshals Service, are investigating the case.
Assistant U.S. Attorneys Alana Weber, Stephan Collins and Chris Schroeder from the District of Alaska are prosecuting the case.
4 Comments
The inmate from California should be put in solitary confinement for the rest of his/her life, obviously being behind bars hasn’t stopped the inmate from pursuing his/her desire to reek havoc on communities. Crimes committed from prison should have sever consequences!
That’s inhumane! It’s considered torture to put someone in solitary confinement after 2-4 weeks. We do not want to go the way of Communist countries who torture their prisoners. In Singapore they tell you if you bring drugs into their country you will be put to death. We need to go back to capital punishment.
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Should have hit all of them with accessory to murder charges.