A 32-year-old Washington state man was arrested last week on manslaughter charges linked to the overdose deaths last year of two Skagway residents.
Authorities say Jacob D. Cotton, 33, shipped fentanyl to one of the two men who died by overdose in Skagway in January 2023, according to a probable cause statement filed with the criminal charges on June 3. The other man overdosed the next day, the statement said.
Skagway police arrested Cotton at the Juneau airport on June 3.
According to the Skagway Police Department, Cotton provided fentanyl to Skagway residents Anthony Bowers, 28, who then gave it to James Cook, 44.
Cotton communicated by Facebook messenger with Bowers and shipped the pills via U.S. mail from Spokane to Skagway, the charging statement said.
The fatal overdoses marked the first known deaths in Skagway linked to fentanyl, according to reporting by KHNS public radio.
Skagway Police Chief Jerry Reddick said Cotton lived in Skagway intermittently and moved away a few years before the overdose deaths.
Statewide, Alaska counted 342 fatal overdoses in 2023, with the highest year-to-year increase in the country. Fentanyl — a cheap, potent synthetic opioid that has in recent years replaced heroin as the state’s deadliest drug — accounted for about three-fourths of those deaths.
The two Skagway men who died after ingesting the pills were former coworkers of Cotton, according to the probable cause statement.
Cotton, in a message to Bowers, warned of the potency of the pills, the statement said. They talked about Bowers selling the pills to help pay for an engagement ring, it said.
Cotton is facing charges of felony manslaughter and second-degree misconduct involving a controlled substance. As of June 7, he was being held at Lemon Creek Correctional Center in Juneau on $150,000 bail, according to documents filed in the case.
Haines public radio station KHNS contributed reporting for this story.
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