20-year-old Robin Gattis, admitted drug dealer, confessed drug conspiracy ringleader, and son of Wasilla's Representative Lynn Gattis, was sentenced to 16 years in U.S. District Court on Drug Conspiracy charges during a three-hour sentencing hearing on Thursday.

Gattis is the third defendent sentenced in the seven-person drug conspiracy that imported the drug methylone from China and distributed it in south-central Alaska.

Gattis admitted to his part in the drug conspiracy that took the life of 20-year-old Matt Scott during a three -day party in April of 2012, Scott died of an overdose from the synthetic drug methylone, commonly known as “Molly,””M-1,” or “roll.” Scott’s death, considered the first one linked to the drug in the state of Alaska, spurred a federal investigation that ultimately led to Gattis’ sentencing on Thursday.

Prior to the federal investigation that led to the conviction of Gattis, Gattis was arrested and charged with state drug crimes when he was caught with the drug in February of 2012. He bailed out later that month and went quickly back into the drug trade contacting his supplier in China and telling them that his last package had been intercepted by the Homeland Security and asked that his next shipment be sent to a alternate address. During sentencing, documents showed that during the time that Gattis’ state charges were pending, he received at least three shipments of drugs from China.

Less than a month and a half later, the victim, Matt Scott would be dead from a methylone overdose. The drugs responsible for the overdose were provided by Gattis at a party held at Scott’s condo. According to court documents, Gattis was at the party for a majority of the time but left and told someone to check on Scott. But, Facebook messages written by Gattis say that Gattis was aware that Scott had taken too much drugs as indicated by the purplish-blue discoloration of his knees, a symptom of overdose. In that message, he said he fell asleep and woke to find his bag of drugs open and Scott dead from overdose.

At his sentencing, Gattis told the court that after Scott’s death, he quit selling the drug. In an email to his Chinese supplier the next day, Gattis would say, “My best friend took the M1 and died. I think I’m going to throw away the rest and I don’t think I’ll be ordering from you again, thank you for your service though and if there’s any way I can get my money refunded it would help a lot.”

Gattis would send another message that day as well. He sent a Facebook message to Shane O’Hare, saying, “Yesterday was the longest, trippiest day of my life. I saw my bro’s dead body and fled a crime scene before police arrived. But it’s a day in the life of Robin Gattis.” That screen-grabbed message was shown as evidence

It was less than a month later, on May 11th, Gattis would contact that same supplier to place another order for methylone. Gattis wrote in the email message, “Sorry for the alarming e-mail before. It turns out my friend passed from a complication from his painkillers and a liver disease I didn’t know about.” Gattis denied sending that message and said that someone else had logged in to his email account and sent the message, but investigators say that the email evidence came from Gattis’ own computer and the message was retrieved during a forensic search of the computer’s hard drive.

Five weeks after the death of Scott, on May 25th, state charges against Gattis were dropped. Gattis’ drug distribution continued into July, when he was caught trafficking in methylone.

Gattis, and his co-conspirators were indicted on federal charges in August of 2012 after he was once again caught trafficking in the drug.

During sentencing on Thursday, the court would hear emotional statements from Scott’s parents as Scott’s ashes sat on the courtroom rail in front of Scott’s mother, Debbie Hurd. Hurd asked the judge to have Gattis look at her as she spoke, the judge did so, Gattis looked on as Hurd stated, “This is my son. My son was a beautiful child and this is him now. He’s in a box.” Teary eyed, Gattis continued to watch as Hurd told the court how much she missed her son. She told Gattis, “When you knew he was overdosing and you were texting people and didn’t do anything. You could have given him a chance,” Scott’s mother said. “Even with his phone, called 911. If you were afraid of getting caught, call with his phone then leave and give him a chance. That’s what I can’t wrap myself around. You were so afraid of getting caught you just let him die.”

Scott’s father also made a statement during the hearing. In his statement, Dan Scott told Gattis, “You are the most worthless human being. You do not even deserve to be called a human being.” Scott’s father continued, saying, “You knew Matt was dying. All you had to do was call 911 and leave.” Scott said that if he had done so, perhaps his son would have had a fighting chance.

Next, Richard Gattis stood and spoke to the court, calling his son immature and naive, he stated, “We agree that Robin has made a multitude of poor choices since he decided to leave our home at age 16,” telling the court that the younger Gattis was not prepared to deal with life on the streets.

Representative Gattis also spoke to the court and Scott’s mother, saying that both her and Debbie had lost so much, she continued by asking Scott’s friends who were gathered in the courtroom for help ridding the community of drugs. “We have a bigger problem,” she said. “We as mothers can do a lot more. Everyone’s son is important and useful. Robin has something to offer.”

Scott himself also spoke to the court in a lengthy statement, in that statement, he said that he wanted to put the whole incident behind him and said, “I just really want to go home.” Answering questions from the judge about the incident in April at Scott’s condo, he told Judge Beistline that he left Scott sleeping on Saturday night and awoke to find him dead from overdose the next day. He told the judge that he didn’t call the police to report Scott because he “didn’t want to reflect poorly on me or my mother.”

Scott has been in federal custody since his arrest in July 2012. After his 16-year sentence, Gattis will also serve five years probation. Federal prosecutors had asked for a sentence of 20 years and a $1 million fine, the defense asked for ten years.

“By the defendant’s own admission, he engaged in the trafficking of Methylone for a living and as a result a terrible and senseless tragedy has occurred,” said DEA Special Agent in Charge Matthew G. Barnes. “Synthetic drugs are insidious substances that are manufactured in clandestine laboratories and marketed to our youth all in the name of greed.”