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Hawaii man gets 121 months for trying to smuggle meth, fentanyl to Alaska
A Big Island man who tried to take his drugs back from airport security officers and then ran from the checkpoint was sentenced Nov. 6 to just over 10 years in federal prison.
Kevin James Hallum, 52, of Captain Cook, Hawaii, was trying to smuggle methamphetamine, fentanyl and heroin from Hawaii to Alaska, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office for the District of Hawaii.
It fell apart at Kona International Airport. On July 25, 2025, Hallum tried to pass through Transportation Security Administration screening with work boots packed in his carry-on bag. Inside the boots were socks, and inside the socks was "a substantial quantity" of meth, fentanyl, heroin and other drugs, according to evidence presented at trial.
TSA officers noticed something off about the bag and found the drugs. As they went through it, Hallum told them the boots were his, tried to take the drugs back and fled the checkpoint, prosecutors said. He was caught later and charged.
A jury convicted him July 2 after a four-day trial on charges of conspiring to distribute meth, fentanyl and heroin and possessing them with intent to distribute. At sentencing, U.S. District Judge Micah W. J. Smith found that Hallum had obstructed justice by giving false testimony at both his trial and his sentencing.
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National refers to the United States as a whole, outside Alaska's borders. It takes in the federal government, including Congress, the Supreme Court, the White House and federal agencies, along with nationwide policy and trends.
Federal decisions reach Alaska through budgets and appropriations, defense spending, veterans care, and programs of agencies such as the Indian Health Service and HUD for Alaska Native people. National debates over food and farming, energy, immigration, fisheries and federal permitting land differently in a state with so much federal land. Alaska's members of Congress take part in these national fights through their votes and bills.
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