MAN SENTENCED TO 7 YEARS IN FEDERAL PRISON
FOR HIS DRUG TRAFFICKING CONVICTION

Anchorage, Alaska – United States Attorney Nelson P. Cohen announced that on February 22, 2008, Bjorn Esserre Elliott, a resident of Anchorage, Alaska, was sentenced in federal court in Anchorage to 84 months for his convictions of manufacturing and/or distributing controlled substances.

United States District Court Judge Timothy M. Burgess imposed the sentence on Elliott, age 26, of 4131 Florina Dr., #16, Anchorage, Alaska.

According to information presented to the court by Special Assistant United States Attorney Erin White, Elliott sold crack cocaine to a government informant on three separate occasions. The total amount of crack sold by Elliott amounted to over 20 grams. On one occasion, Elliott’s uncle, Derek Lamont Elliott, processed the powder cocaine into crack prior to the sale. Co-defendant Derek Elliott received a sentence of 60 months in prison on February 1, 2008.

Prior to imposing sentence, Judge Burgess noted the defendant’s significant criminal history and the need to protect the public. Judge Burgess also found that Bjorn Elliott’s actions in this case were more serious than that of his co-defendant, Derek Elliott. In addition to his sentence in this case, defendant Bjorn Elliott is serving an additional 22 months on a probation violation for a previous robbery conviction in state court. Judge Burgess ordered that the defendant’s sentence in his federal case shall run consecutively to the probation revocation for his state robbery case.

Mr. Cohen commended the Federal Bureau of Investigation’s Safe Streets Task Force for the investigation leading to the successful prosecution of Elliott. SAUSA White 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.