Two Soldotna men have been indicted by a federal grand jury on charges of synthetic cannabis trafficking and firearm offenses stemming from a recent drug bust of the local store Tobacco Distress.
Philip Kneeland, 33, and William Dooley, 27, were both named in the indictment, according to a notice from the United States Department of Justice District of Alaska released Thursday.
Kneeland, the store’s owner, is named in five counts, and could face “up to 20 years in prison on the three spice charges, and an additional mandatory minimum 30 years on firearms charges,” according to the release.
Dooley is named in three counts, and could also face up to 20 years on the spice charges, and five years in prison on one firearms charge, according to the notice.
Kneeland, Dooley and Kneeland’s wife, Loren, were arrested in December after local members of the Statewide Drug Enforcement Unit seized more than 6,000 packets of synthetic cannabis, or spice, from the tobacco store outside Soldotna, the Kneelands’ home and storage units the couple used following a two-month investigation.
All three have been indicted on several charges related to the drug bust in Kenai Superior Court, and all are scheduled for another hearing at the Kenai Courthouse on April 15.
The federal indictment also seeks property, more than $75,000, “several firearms and a 2014 GMC Sierra pickup truck,” according to the notice.
— Staff Report
