Kodiak Dealer Busted In Fridge Gets 20 Years For Fatal Fentanyl Pill

Federal court in Alaska has closed the book on a deadly Kodiak drug case, sending 38-year-old Gerry Pugal to prison for two decades after a fentanyl pill he put into circulation led to a fatal overdose in August 2022.

According to court filings, the pill that killed the victim was one of several counterfeit “blue” M‑30 fentanyl tablets tied to a larger trafficking ring. Months after the overdose, officers tracking the case say they found Pugal literally chilling from authorities, hiding inside a refrigerator during a state arrest. Inside, investigators reported recovering fentanyl pills and methamphetamine. The sentence was imposed Tuesday in federal court in Alaska.

A press release from the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Alaska states that Pugal pleaded guilty on Oct. 28, 2025, to one count of conspiracy to distribute controlled substances resulting in death. A federal judge ordered him to serve 240 months in prison, followed by supervised release for the rest of his life. Prosecutors said Pugal was supplied by a California-based trafficking organization that mailed drug packages into Kodiak, and that he in turn recruited lower-level dealers to move product on the ground.

Case Details And Evidence

“Mr. Pugal recruited those close to him to do his dirty work and profited off the vulnerable population in Kodiak with zero regard for consequences or for the rule of law,” U.S. Attorney Michael J. Heyman said in a statement released through the U.S. Department of Justice.

Court documents outline the overdose that kicked off the case: a victim bought five M‑30 pills from a dealer working under Pugal, then was found dead in a hotel bathroom on Aug. 26, 2022. Toxicology testing later confirmed a lethal amount of fentanyl.

How Investigators Followed The Trail

Federal investigators say U.S. Postal Inspectors flagged a suspicious parcel shipped from California and discovered it contained more than 880 grams of methamphetamine, over 50 grams of cocaine and nearly 5,000 fentanyl pills, with an estimated street value topping $500,000.

According to the same court filings, inspectors pulled the drugs, installed a tracking device in the parcel and arranged a controlled delivery. Law enforcement watched as co-defendants shuttled the package between locations before it landed at Pugal’s residence. When officers executed an arrest warrant, they reported finding Pugal hidden in a refrigerator, along with fentanyl pills and methamphetamine.

Legal Consequences

Pugal’s Oct. 28 guilty plea to conspiracy to distribute controlled substances resulting in death carried a mandatory penalty range that the court addressed at sentencing. The judge ultimately imposed 20 years in prison and lifetime supervised release.

Co-defendants named in court records include Ashley Katelnikoff, who has already pleaded guilty and is set for sentencing in April, and Kalani Coyle, who received a five-year sentence last November. Assistant U.S. Attorneys Alana Weber, Chris Schroeder and Stephan Collins prosecuted the case.

Why It Matters

The case lands at a time when Alaska is seeing a steep rise in opioid and fentanyl deaths. Reporting and federal data show fentanyl now appears in the majority of overdose fatalities statewide. As reported by the Anchorage Daily News and by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, illicit fentanyls account for a large and growing share of fatal overdoses in the state. Prosecutors framed Pugal’s sentence as one piece of a broader push to choke off the flow of counterfeit fentanyl pills into Alaska.

Federal authorities say the investigation is still active. Agencies involved include the DEA Seattle and Anchorage divisions, the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, IRS Criminal Investigation, Alaska State Troopers and the Kodiak Police Department. The U.S. Attorney’s Office listed public affairs contact information in its release for anyone with additional information related to the case.