Spokane man sentenced to 25 years for mailing fentanyl to Skagway

U.S. District Judge Timothy M. Burgess sentenced a Spokane, Washington, man to 25 years in prison Monday for mailing about 150 fentanyl pills to Skagway, a shipment a federal jury found caused the deaths of two men within 24 hours and also resulted in the overdoses of two other people in the community.

Jacob Cotton, 35, was convicted in March of conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute fentanyl and of distribution of fentanyl resulting in death, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Alaska. The case is 1:25-cr-00002 in U.S. District Court in Alaska. Skagway was "dry" when the deal was made, the office said, meaning no fentanyl was available in the community.

Cotton shipped the parcel from Spokane through the U.S. Postal Service on Jan. 9, 2023. It arrived between Jan. 11 and 12. On Jan. 12 the recipient told multiple people the pills were for sale. The next night, around 11:30 p.m., that man, 28, was found unresponsive on his bathroom floor and later declared dead. On the afternoon of Jan. 14, a 44-year-old man was found dead in his bedroom. The State of Alaska Medical Examiner's Office determined both died from acute toxic effects of fentanyl. Investigators later recovered 62 pills hidden inside a computer tower at the younger victim's home. The jury applied a "death resulting" enhancement for both men, requiring proof that Cotton's pills caused each death and raising the penalty he faced.

Cotton contested that finding. He argued the pathologist who performed both autopsies had not testified with medical certainty that fentanyl alone caused one of the deaths, and that findings common in opioid deaths were absent. Burgess denied his motion for acquittal or a new trial on July 20, writing that the evidence did not preponderate against the verdict.

"Mr. Cotton was responsible for the first shipment of fentanyl into Skagway," said Robert A. Saccone, Special Agent in Charge of the DEA Seattle Field Division.

U.S. Attorney Michael J. Heyman said the shipment also resulted in the overdoses of two additional people in Skagway.

Alaska recorded 339 drug-overdose deaths in 2024, down from 357 in 2023, with fentanyl involved in 73% of the 2024 deaths.

The DEA and Skagway Police Department investigated, with help from the Alaska State Troopers.

"While nothing can undo the loss experienced by the families and friends of the victims, today's sentencing represents an important point of closure in a case that has weighed heavily on our community," said Chief of Police Jerry Reddick of the Skagway Police Department.