ANCHORAGE MAN SENTENCED TO SEVEN YEARS
IN FEDERAL PRISON FOR DISTRIBUTING CRACK COCAINE

Anchorage, Alaska – United States Attorney Nelson P. Cohen announced that on January 28, 2008, Phillip James Collins, III, a resident of Anchorage, Alaska, was sentenced in federal court in Anchorage to eighty-four months in federal prison for distributing crack cocaine.

United States District Court Judge Timothy M. Burgess imposed the sentence on Collins, age 24, of 1806 Laura Circle in Anchorage.

According to information presented to the court by Special Assistant United States Attorney Christine M. Thoreson, Collins sold a total of 10.4 grams of crack cocaine on two separate occasions in November 2006. Through additional evidence presented at the sentencing, the government established that Collins brought a firearm to the November 14, 2006 drug deal, which increases the applicable guideline range.

Prior to imposing sentencing, Judge Burgess stated that this was a serious offense given that it included both drugs and guns, and that in fashioning a sentence he had to take into account the need to protect the community.

Mr. Cohen commended the Federal Bureau of Investigation Safe Streets Task Force, comprised of Anchorage police officers and FBI agents, for the investigation leading to the sentence in this case. SAUSA Thoreson is one of two prosecutors in the U.S. Attorney’s Office who are funded by the Municipality of Anchorage for the purpose of prosecuting gang-related and violent crime cases.