Alaska attorney feds say was part of ‘cartel’ pleads not guilty to drug trafficking, firearms charges

ANCHORAGE, Alaska (KTUU) - Messages detailed in federal court documents show suspended Anchorage defense attorney Justin Facey, who pled not guilty Thursday to drug trafficking and firearm charges, boasting to various members of Anchorage’s legal community that the cartel had retained his firm for their Alaska needs.

“Exhibiting characteristically poor impulse control, the defendant couldn’t help by brag about his newfound status as a ‘cartel lawyer’ to anyone in the Anchorage legal community who might listen,” federal prosecutors write in their 12-page detention memo.

One day after his arrest and federal grand jury indictment, a somber-looking Facey, 44, appeared for the first time in person as an Anchorage federal judge read his three charges publicly:

• One count of maintaining a drug-involved premises
• One count of possession of firearms in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime
• One count of possession of firearms by a prohibited person

Facey’s attorney Nicholas Vieth, who appeared over the phone Thursday, had not responded to a request for comment as of publication.

Prosecutors say between April 2024 and April 2025, Facey used his Anchorage residence to “distribute and use” illegal drugs, namely fentanyl and methamphetamine, as well as illegally possessing four firearms, after saying law enforcement first became aware in June 2023 Facey was using his license to practice law in Alaska to facilitate a large-scale drug-trafficking organization.

According to court documents, law enforcement also discovered communications between Facey and Heraclio Sanchez-Rodriguez, a man allegedly in charge of the drug-trafficking operation and was using a contraband cell phone while in a California prison to run Alaska drug operations.

In October 2023, Sanchez-Rodriguez was indicted on federal drug trafficking and murder charges related to a Trapper Creek double homicide.

In total, more than 50 other defendants have been charged in connection with Sanchez-Rodriguez’s Alaska drug-trafficking operation.

Text message exchanges between Facey and Sanchez-Rodriguez, prosecutors say, detail plans to try and move an unnamed co-conspirator out of Alaska to avoid the Anchorage Police Department’s attempts to apprehend them.

Additionally, they allege Sanchez-Rodriguez sent Facey fentanyl pills to his residence, which, according to court documents, were presumably for the purpose of distribution.

“Thank you. Much appreciated. I feel funny not paying - we can credit it for when you need some legal work done, if you want? Setting up businesses is smart BTW. Make each of these girls a little revenue laundromat,” prosecutors say Facey responded to Sanchez-Rodriguez sending him the pills in a text message.

In another text message from November 2023, prosecutors allege Facey wrote, “I bought a new gun and some cocaine, as is customary amongst my people.”

Prosecutors also say law enforcement was able to protect a person Facey had tried to get Sanchez-Rodriguez’s help in assaulting before they could be harmed.

Through interviews with Facey’s former clients, law enforcement allege Facey coerced sex acts to pay for legal representation, with one individual describing him as “a drug addict, a pig, and a disgusting slob.”

Another December 2024 example, detailed in court documents, says after Facey promised a pregnant woman looking for housekeeping work $80 and a small amount of methamphetamine if she would have sex with him, he only paid her $60.

If convicted, Facey faces between five years to life in prison.

The indictment comes months after the Alaska Bar Association suspended Facey in February 2025 after 13 bar grievances and six fee arbitration matters were found within a three-year period.

A trial scheduling conference is scheduled for July 18.

Facey will remain detained until a detention hearing scheduled on May 29 for further consideration.

In addition to the trial scheduling and detention hearing, a discovery management conference has been scheduled for June 26.

Reagan Zimmerman-Hartzheim, spokesperson for the U.S. Attorney’s Office in Alaska, declined to comment on the ongoing case.

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