A 39-year-old Anchorage man who prosecutors said was once a major supplier of heroin to the Matanuska-Susitna region and Fairbanks was sentenced to 22 years in federal prison on Dec. 12.
In August, a federal jury found Seneca Loyal Neal guilty on federal drug charges.
In a statement Sunday announcing the sentence, the Alaska Department of Public Safety said Neal's case was the result of a coordinated effort to trace a flood of heroin in the Valley to its source.
In the fall of 2014, with heroin increasingly prevalent in the Valley, investigators with the Alaska State Troopers' Statewide Drug Enforcement Unit sought to identify major drug suppliers.
Working together with law enforcement, agencies from the Kenai Peninsula, Anchorage and the Valley, along with federal agencies, the investigators used "informants, technological equipment and physical surveillance" in what it called a "large scale effort" that "led to Neal's identification as a distributor of large amounts of heroin, as well as other illegal drugs," according to the statement from DPS.
In November 2014 the troopers' statewide drug unit seized more than 1.7 pounds of heroin, 69 grams of bath salts, marijuana and $8,834 in cash, plus two vehicles. The drugs had an estimated street value of $232,000, the statement said. The next month, Neal and another man, 40-year-old Lamon Washington of Fairbanks, were indicted on drug distribution and conspiracy charges.
Prosecutors said Neal directed sub-dealers to sell heroin in the Valley and Fairbanks.
In August, a federal jury found Neal guilty on all counts against him, including drug conspiracy, possessing a controlled substance with intent to distribute and distributing a controlled substance.
Sentencing filings in Neal's federal court case paint a contrasting portrait of a man who at times tried to establish legitimate businesses but, in the words of his attorney, found it "very difficult to overcome his own insecurities."
In a sentencing memorandum, Neal's defense attorney David A. Nesbett wrote that Neal left home at 16, "learning to survive on the streets on his own," and "found he was talented at hustling to stay alive."
Neal had started several legitimate businesses that his attorney argued were not fronts for drug dealing but attempts to live a straight life. Alaska business records show he filed for licenses for a carpet cleaning business, a gaming arcade and a video production company over the past 15 years.
In their sentencing memorandum, federal prosecutors contended that Neal hadn't "accepted responsibility or even acknowledged the most glaring facts" of his crimes.
He rented an apartment in Anchorage "solely as a stash house" and it contained almost nothing but "housing defendant's heroin supply, packaging materials and the rental agreement with his name on it as the renter," prosecutors wrote in the memo.
Neal had a pattern of seeking "his own gain by exploiting the weakness of others," the prosecution's sentencing memorandum said.
In the memo, prosecutors asked for a sentence of between 25 and 30 years, beyond the federal sentencing minimum of 20 years.
On Friday, Neal filed a notice that he will appeal his case.