Fairbanks man connected to deadly trafficking ring gets 22-year sentence in fatal fentanyl overdose

Yahoo

09-07-2025

Jul. 9—A 39-year-old Fairbanks man was sentenced this week in federal court in Anchorage to serve 22 years in prison and five years of supervised release for his role in a fatal fentanyl overdose in 2022.
Edward Ginnis was accused of supplying the drugs that led to the death of 32-year-old Adam Sakkinen almost three years ago. Ginnis is one of more than 60 people charged in what's been called the largest organized drug trafficking ring in Alaska history.
Prosecutors say Heraclio Sanchez Rodriguez, an inmate serving a life sentence in a California prison, directed a ring that smuggled fentanyl, heroin and methamphetamine to some of the state's smallest villages through a network of postal shippers and drug couriers. The ring, linked to the deaths of two women in Mat-Su, hinged on a network of women in and out of custody.
The Ginnis case joins a growing number of state and federal prosecutions targeting people accused of selling drugs that lead to fatal overdoses.
Ginnis supplied the drugs involved in June 2022 when Sakkinen was found unconscious behind the wheel of his car near North Pole, according to a sentencing memorandum filed in the case by federal prosecutors. He had apparently passed out with drug paraphernalia in his hands and put the car in reverse into a ditch, the memo said. Investigators found fentanyl in the car.
Medics revived Sakkinen with six doses of Narcan but his family took him off life support 11 days later, the memo said. He was found to have more than twice the average lethal level of fentanyl in his blood.
"Adam's death was a terrible and preventable tragedy that scarred his community and devastated his family and friends," the memorandum said.
Sakkinen bought the drug from Samantha Pearson, who got her supply from Ginnis, whose supplier was Sanchez Rodriguez, prosecutors wrote. Ginnis told Alaska State Troopers he got the mail from Sanchez Rodriguez's organization at different addresses in Anchorage and Fairbanks, they said. Pearson later told troopers she thought the drug she was selling was heroin.
Ginnis sent money via FedEx to California in June 2022 and spoke by phone with Sanchez Rodriguez, who used a contraband cell phone in his cell, according to the memorandum. The inmate was arrested on federal charges about six weeks later.
Ginnis' attorney in a memorandum filed in the case said a 20-year sentence "reflects the gravity of this offense while recognizing that Mr. Ginnis was not the leader of this organization but rather distributed controlled substances on behalf of the (larger) drug trafficking organization ..."
In January, Ginnis and Pearson were indicted on federal drug trafficking charges. Ginnis in April entered a guilty plea to one count of conspiracy to distribute a controlled substance resulting in death. Pearson is awaiting trial.
Sakkinen's family members attended Tuesday's sentencing in Anchorage.
Sakkinen attended North Pole High School, earned an instrumentation certificate from the University of Alaska Fairbanks and worked with his father in the property management and construction industries as well as at several Fairbanks restaurants, federal prosecutors wrote in their sentencing memorandum. "His family described him as having an infectious laugh and a smile that would light up a room," the memo said. "He was smart, helpful, adventurous, loving, easygoing, kind, and a great friend."