Seven Ketchikan and Sitka residents have pleaSeven Ketchikan and Sitka residents have pleaded guilty for their involvement in an international drug trafficking ring. 32-year-old Ketchikan resident Patricia Seal-Uttke was the final defendant charged in the case. She pleaded guilty on Tuesday.
The group was responsible for moving drugs and laundering money across the state.
Court documents state that the U.S. Postal Service intercepted a package full of methamphetamine and heroin in 2022. The package was addressed to Seal-Uttke. When the drugs arrived in Ketchikan, Seal-Uttke’s boyfriend Larry Marsden picked them up and was arrested by police.
Federal authorities said the Southeast Alaska operation was part of a bigger ring run by an inmate in a California prison. Court documents state that they were mailing drugs into Alaska from California and then moving the money back out to California and Mexico. The U.S. Attorney’s office said in a statement that the operation at its peak was moving over 10 pounds of fentanyl, meth, heroin, and cocaine into Southeast Alaska in one month.
The defendants in the case were:
- Karly Fuller, 31, of Sitka, who pleaded guilty to drug trafficking and money laundering on April 23, 2025. Authorities believe Fuller manages the drug ring’s operations and recruited people. She is set to be sentenced on September 3, 2025, and faces up to 20 years in prison.
- Larry Marsden, 43, of Ketchikan, sentenced to 66 months in prison and three years of supervised release after pleading guilty in December 2024.
- Patricia Seal-Uttke, 32, of Ketchikan, who pleaded guilty to conspiracy to distribute drugs and launder money. She is scheduled to be sentenced on September 24, 2025 and faces up to 20 years in prison. .
- Stormy Cleveland, 39, of Ketchikan, sentenced to 135 months in prison and five years of supervised release following her guilty plea in November 2024.
- Mario Klanott, 38, of Sitka, who pleaded guilty on June 13, 2025, and will be sentenced September 9.
- Douglas Vanmeter, 34, of Sitka, who pleaded guilty in May and is scheduled for sentencing on August 6.
- Sara Orr, 34, of Ketchikan, who entered a plea on June 6 and will be sentenced September 9.
- Julia Brusell, 43, of Ketchikan, sentenced to time served and two years of supervised release after pleading guilty to money laundering in November 2024.
In total, over 60 people across Alaska and California have been charged in connection with the operation.
