Palmer, Alaska (KINY) – On Nov.16, a Palmer grand jury indicted 13 people for the crime of Promoting Contraband in the First Degree following ten investigations by the Alaska Department of Corrections staff and the Alaska State Troopers at three correctional facilities in the Matanuska-Susitna Borough.
Eleven inmates and two visitors to the facility were indicted.
The three facilities involved were the Goose Creek Correctional Center, the Mat-Su Pre-trial Facility, and the Palmer Correctional Center. The charge of Promoting Contraband in the First Degree makes it a crime to introduce, take, convey, or attempt to introduce, take, or convey, a controlled substance into a correctional facility and carries a sentencing range of 0 to 5 years. Those charged are:
Steve Lapitre, inmate
Khanesia Allen, visitor
Shayne Anselm, inmate
John Walls, inmate
Dominic Johnson, inmate
Deborah Carlson-Johnson, visitor
Robert Wilde, inmate
Shawn Bellknap, inmate
Clyde Carvalho, inmate
Shawn Schmalzried, inmate
Brian Pinckley, inmate
Orion Seal, inmate
Troy Smith, inmate
The charge in the indictment is only an allegation and is not evidence of guilt. The defendants are presumed innocent and are entitled to a fair trial at which the prosecution must prove guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.
