Four Anchorage residents charged with attempting to smuggle drugs into prison for distribution
(ANCHORAGE, Alaska) - Four Anchorage residents have been charged for attempting to smuggle drugs into the State of Alaska Department of Corrections (DOC) Anchorage Correctional Complex (“ACC”).
Steven Cao, 32, a federal inmate at the time of the offense, Brandon Beltz, 26, Jennifer
Delossantos, 33, and Allyson Moore, 20, all of Anchorage, were named in the indictment charging each of them with drug conspiracy and attempt to obtain a prohibited object by a prison inmate. The indictment also charges Cao and Delossantos with use of a firearm during and in relation to a drug trafficking crime, and Beltz and Moore with possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime.
According to the indictment, between Nov. 13, 2017, and continuing to Dec. 7, 2017, Cao, Beltz, Delossantos, and Moore allegedly attempted to obtain buprenorphine, also known as “subutext,” a narcotic drug, for Cao while he was in federal pre-trial custody at ACC. It is further alleged that they conspired to distribute these drugs to other inmates being held ACC.
Specifically, the plan was to recruit an individual who was subject to State of Alaska pre-trial
supervision to whom the conspirators would deliver the drugs. The individual would then internally smuggle the drugs into the correctional institution by intentionally violating his conditions of release so that the state would remand him back into prison custody for 72 hours. During this short period of re-incarceration, the smuggler was to deliver the drugs to Cao, who would then distribute the drugs to other inmates. Cao and Delossantos allegedly gave a firearm to Beltz and Moore as payment in furtherance of executing the plan to smuggle drugs into ACC.
The Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) and the Anchorage Police Department (APD)
conducted the investigation, with assistance from DOC, which led to the charges in this case.
An indictment is only a charge and is not evidence of guilt. A defendant is presumed innocent and is entitled to a fair trial at which the government must prove guilt beyond a reasonable doubt.
