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A New Charge For Suspected Heroin Dealer: Conspiracy

Adrian Wagner
/
KYUK

On Thursday afternoon, the state charged Albert R. Cleveland of Quinhagak in connection with the raid of a Bethel home where law enforcement seized large amounts of heroin and cocaine.

DuringOctober’s raid, Cleveland was picked up for violating his parole. Cleveland was on parole for third-degree assault and has, what Jared Karr of the District Attorney’s office called, “an extensive criminal history” that includes 10 prior convictions.

At Thursday’s arraignment, Cleveland told the judge that he didn’t know the others arrested in the house during the raid. Six other people were arrested there, and were arraigned earlier this week. Cleveland now faces a charge of conspiracy misconduct in the second degree, which carries a maximum ten-year sentence and a $100,000 fine, in addition to any sentence he may get for the parole violation.  

Cleveland maintained at the proceeding that he was at the wrong place at the wrong time, but Judge Bruce Ward called him an “extreme danger to the community” and set bail at $150,000.

On August 15 of this year, Cleveland was involved in a series of overdoses in Quinhagak that left a 19-year-old dead. Cleveland also overdosed and was medevaced to YKHC in Bethel where his life was saved. It is not clear if Cleveland provided the heroin, which was laced with another more powerful drug called fentanyl, to the others involved in the incident. In May, police raided his home after receiving a tip that he was dealing in the village.

Cleveland has a preliminary court date set for November 14 at the Bethel Courthouse.