A sentencing hearing was held Monday afternoon, March 19, for Kelly Gunderson. Back in October, Gunderson was charged with selling marijuana to a minor. The incident happened on Oct. 1, 2018, according to Wrangell Police Chief Doug McCloskey. They became aware of somebody selling marijuana to underage persons when a 15-year-old boy, who will not be named as he is a minor, was caught high by his parents. The teen was brought to the police, and he informed officers where he had received the marijuana from, and helped them to catch Gunderson.
Under police direction, he approached Gunderson and purchased 24 marijuana cookies, and then turned them over to the police for chemical analysis. McCloskey said that the cookies were found to be laced with marijuana, and Gunderson was charged.
Gunderson pleaded guilty to the charges. The prosecution, lead by District Attorney Bailey Woolfstead, proposed a sentence of 2 years Suspended Imposition of Sentence, or SIS. An SIS is similar to probation, except that at the end of the sentence the charges are removed from the guilty person’s record, pending good behavior. Woolfstead said she felt an SIS sentence was appropriate given the small amount of marijuana involved in the crime, and the fact that Gunderson had lived a largely innocent life otherwise. However, she added that she understood that this was a serious offense. She proposed that on top of the regular conditions of an SIS, Gunderson be required to perform community service, as well as write a letter of apology to the boy and his family.
“I think the reason the state believes that is appropriate in this situation is that we are talking, in the statute, about a small amount of marijuana compared to what we normally see in sales, and we are talking about someone with no criminal history,” Woolfstead said.
Margret Bergerud, representing Gunderson, said she largely agreed with Woolfstead in that this was a serious issue. She did say that Gunderson was not the one who introduced the minor to marijuana, it was not his first time with weed. She also said that Gunderson knew that what she did was wrong and was incredibly embarrassed. For a woman nearing retirement age, and who had not broken the law previously, she said, SIS was appropriate. Bergerud did object to a few parts of what the SIS would entail, however, such as a ban on the consumption of alcohol. Alcohol was not involved in Gunderson deciding to sell marijuana to a minor, she said. She also asked that the court allow Gunderson to purchase marijuana for personal use, which Gunderson said she needed for medical purposes.
The child’s mother also spoke at the hearing. She said that her son has been the subject of bullying both at school and at work for his part in the incident. He has been accused of “snitching” and ruining a woman’s life, she said. She also said that, while she believes in the importance of forgiveness, two years of SIS was too light of a sentence.
“The damage that’s been done needs to stop and it’s continuing,” she said. “What a message that we are sending to this town, that this is okay, it’s almost a slap in the face. It’s not fair, it’s not right.”
Judge Kevin Miller, presiding over the hearing, said that he did not want to minimize the impact of all of this on the minor. However, he said that given Gunderson’s age and past record, imprisoning her was inappropriate. He also said that he did not want anybody to think this was a minor incident to be brushed off.
“In this case, as far as the seriousness of the offense, the attorney’s statements are correct in that this involved a small amount of marijuana, provided by someone with no prior criminal history,” Miller said. “So that would mean it would be a lower level offense, but that said, the marijuana was provided to a minor. Whether or not that minor had used marijuana before is sort of beside the point. Substance abuse, alcohol, marijuana, other substance uses by minors in Alaska and Southeast Alaska, and in Wrangell, is a profound problem. It has a devastating effect, not only on the children that are consuming, but on the families and the communities that are involved.”
Gunderson was sentenced to two years SIS. She is forbidden from carrying any concealed weapons, must undergo a substance abuse assessment within the next 30 days, and is barred from possessing any quantity of marijuana higher than an amount appropriate for personal use. She will also be required to write a letter of apology to the minor and his family, but otherwise will be barred from contact with them. She must also serve 100 hours of community service before her SIS is up.
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