Anchorage, Alaska – U.S. Attorney Bryan Schroder announced that Brian James Tepner, 48, of Fairbanks, Alaska, has been sentenced to 108 months in federal prison followed by 8 years of supervised release on charges of possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine and for being a felon in possession of a stolen firearm.

At 3:30 a.m. on March 22, 2019, Tepner was found slumped over in the driver’s seat of a vehicle parked at a Sourdough Fuel station in Fairbanks. In plain view, Alaska State Troopers saw an open container of alcohol, hypodermic needles, and a spoon with burnt heroin residue. Troopers obtained a search warrant for the vehicle and seized 191 grams of methamphetamine, three grams of heroin, and a stolen S&W .22 caliber pistol. Troopers also located drug dealing paraphernalia, including ledgers, two scales, and multiple plastic baggies and cell phones.

Tepner left Alaska shortly after being released, but he was indicted by a Grand Jury in the District of Alaska on May 22, 2019. On June 25, 2019, he was arrested in Phoenix, Arizona and transported back to Alaska.

In imposing the 108-month sentence, the Court noted Tepner’s long criminal record and recent threats he made towards his wife on recorded jail calls as justifying the lengthy sentence.

The Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI), Alaska State Troopers (AST), and the Fairbanks Area Narcotics Team conducted the investigation leading to the sentence in this case. The Fairbanks Area Narcotics Team is part of DEA’s High Intensity Drug Trafficking Areas (HIDTA) program. The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Ryan Tansey.

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