ANCHORAGE, Alaska – An Anchorage man pleaded guilty last week  to conspiring with others to traffic fentanyl, methamphetamine and heroin in Alaska on behalf of a drug trafficking organization allegedly run by a California inmate.

According to court documents, on March 23, 2023, Richard Frye, 36, and co-conspirator Tiffani Couch, 31, drove their other co-conspirator Anna Petla, 25, to the Ted Stevens Anchorage International Airport and dropped her off for departure. Petla entered the airport and attempted to board a flight to Sand Point. Law enforcement officials contacted her inside the airport, searched the backpack she was carrying and discovered nearly 3,000 blue fentanyl pills. Petla also possessed over 80 grams of methamphetamine.

Law enforcement officials subsequently contacted Frye and Couch as they waited in their vehicle outside the departure area and detained both. Officers searched the vehicle and found over 500 blue fentanyl pills and over 40 grams of other controlled substances.

On June 9, 2023, law enforcement officials contacted Frye and Couch during a traffic stop in Anchorage. Officers searched the vehicle and recovered roughly 1,400 blue fentanyl pills, over 12 grams of other controlled substances and two loaded ammunition magazines. Frye possessed the controlled substances that police seized in March and June 2023 with the intent to distribute them to people in Alaska on behalf of the drug trafficking organization.

Law enforcement officials arrested Frye and Couch following the traffic stop on June 9. When Frye was booked into custody at the Anchorage Correctional Complex, staff found a suspicious mass in Frye’s stomach during a body scan. It was later determined that before his arrest, Frye ingested fentanyl and suboxone wrapped in cellophane and condoms with the intent to distribute these substances inside the correctional facility.

Frye posted bail and was released but was ordered detained again following a bail hearing in state court on June 23, 2023. On June 25, 2023, correctional officers discovered Frye attempted to body carry roughly 70 suboxone strips into the detention facility with the intent to distribute them inside the facility.

Court documents also explain that between December 2022 and March 2023, Frye used a digital money transferring service to send 34 transfers totaling over $8,800 to a co-conspirator’s account. During the same time frame, Frye received nine transfers totaling over $1,000 from the same co-conspirator. Frye is scheduled to be sentenced on Nov. 13, 2025, and faces up to 20 years in prison. 

A federal district court judge will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors.

Co-defendants in this case are as follows:

• Couch, of Anchorage, pleaded guilty on May 9, 2025, to one count of conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute controlled substances. Couch is scheduled to be sentenced on Jan. 22, 2026.
• Petla, of Dillingham, pleaded guilty on June 4, 2025, to one count of conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute controlled substances. Petla is scheduled to be sentenced on Sept. 16, 2025.

U.S. Attorney Scott E. Bradford of the District of Oregon made the announcement. The U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Alaska has been recused from this case with the exception of certain personnel. Assistant U.S. Attorney Steven D. Clymer from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the Northern District of New York has been appointed as Special Attorney to the United States Attorney General to assist with this and other recused cases.  He reports to and acts under the direction of the Deputy Attorney General, or his delegee, or U.S. Attorney Bradford in these cases. Special Attorney Clymer supervises personnel from the District of Alaska who have been exempted from the recusal.

The Drug Enforcement Administration Seattle Division Office and Anchorage District Office, FBI Anchorage Field Office, IRS Criminal Investigation Seattle Field Office, U.S. Postal Inspection Service Seattle Division and Anchorage Domicile, Homeland Security Investigations Anchorage, Alaska Office, Alaska State Troopers and Anchorage Police Department investigated the case.

Assistant U.S. Attorneys Stephan Collins, Chris Schroeder and Alana Weber are prosecuting the case.

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