Alex W. Savo, 25, originally of Naknek, pleaded guilty May 1 and was ordered to serve a two year sentence. His co-conspirator, Taylor Lack, 21, of Wasilla, is scheduled to plead Friday.
KDLG: Alex Walter Savo will serve a two year sentence for conspiracy to deliver a schedule 1A controlled substance. Savo, originally from Naknek, was behind an importation of meth and heroin that was disrupted by authorities in Anchorage and the Bristol Bay Borough.
Judge Tina Reigh accepted the plea deal and two year sentence at a hearing May 1. She granted Savo a delayed remand to "work or fish" this summer, according to the state's prosecutor assigned to the case, and to pursue an arrangement to serve his sentence on ankle monitoring rather than behind bars. A remand hearing is scheduled November 15. Under the plea deal, the other five charges against Savo were dismissed.
His co-conspirator, Taylor Lack, 21, from Wasilla, is also expected to plead guilty to one count of conspiracy to deliver the controlled substances. Her change of plea and sentencing hearing is scheduled Friday. The prosecutor believes her sentence will be focused on supervised release rather than jail time, accounting for less criminal history.
Savo and Lack were nabbedas they stepped off a commercial flight from Anchorage that landed in King Salmon in early March 2016. A search turned up a .45 caliber pistol and four small baggies, two containing meth and two containing heroin. Lack had them hidden in her bra.
Authorities in Bristol Bay and Anchorage suspected Savo was trafficking for some time, based on tips and their monitoring of his movements.
"I am aware Savo, having no known gainful employment, made several trips to Anchorage during the month of February, each time purchasing a cash ticket minutes before the departing flight closed, a common practice for persons engaged in drug trafficking," trooper Alfred Borrego wrote in his report after the arrest.
According to law enforcement, Savo did not show up for his ticketed flight to King Salmon several times before finally boarding with Lack. Once caught, Lack told Borrego Savo had given her the drugs to hide on her body on the way to the airport, and that this was the second time she had muled drugs for him and a connection in Anchorage. She fessed up, too, that she had been with Savo before as he packaged the drugs into doses he was selling around Naknek for $100.
Lack said she had injected heroin earlier that day, and Savo admitted he had smoked meth before the flight. Both were arrested, and both charged with a host of crimes associated with carrying those drugs into Bristol Bay, while armed, with the intent to sell them.
Reach the author at dave@kdlg.org or 907.842.5281.