Repeat offender sentenced to 15 years for drug trafficking, firearms crimes

ANCHORAGE, Alaska - An Anchorage man was sentenced Wednesday to 15 years in prison for committing drug trafficking and firearms crimes while on pretrial release in multiple state cases.

According to court documents, in 2013, Paul Baldwin Jr., 35, was convicted of a federal drug trafficking crime and sentenced to seven years in prison. Baldwin was released from federal prison in 2019 and placed on supervision. His supervision was terminated in December 2021. Within months of termination, he was trafficking drugs again.

In September 2022, Anchorage Police Officers responded to a residence for a call. Upon arrival, officers saw Baldwin walking back and forth between the residence and a vehicle in the driveway. When officers pulled in the driveway, Baldwin fled on foot.

Officers searched the vehicle in the driveway and discovered a pistol, over 80 grams of illegal fentanyl pills and over $16,000 in cash. At the time of the search, Baldwin was a convicted felon and prohibited from possessing firearms.

Roughly a week later, officers arrested Baldwin at an apartment in Anchorage. At the time of the arrest, officers observed Baldwin attempting to flush nearly 200 grams of heroin down the toilet. He was also in possession of another pistol and officers found over $1,000 in cash and illicit fentanyl pills in his pockets as well as illegal fentanyl pills and over $420 in cash inside Baldwin's backpack. Officers later recovered an additional 44 grams of illegal fentanyl pills hidden on his person.

In March 2023, law enforcement attempted to stop a vehicle that Baldwin was driving in Fairbanks, but Baldwin fled at a high rate of speed before losing control and hitting a snow berm. Officers searched Baldwin's person and discovered over 14 grams of illegal fentanyl pills, over $5,600 in cash and key cards for a room at a local hotel. Law enforcement officers searched the hotel room at the local hotel and found over 290 grams of illegal drugs, $2,450 in cash and a lump of suspected gold.

Following his arrest, Baldwin made multiple recorded phone calls from jail to another person asking them to look for something at a residence. Law enforcement recovered roughly 198 grams of illegal fentanyl pills and 145 grams of heroin.

In January 2023, Baldwin was indicted by a federal grand jury with being a felon in possessing of a firearm. In May 2023, a federal grand jury returned a superseding indictment adding three additional charges, including two counts of possession of controlled substances with intent to distribute. In August 2024, while he was pending trial in this federal case, Baldwin was released for a period of one day to attend a relative's funeral and failed to return to jail. He was arrested roughly two months later.

On Jan. 8, 2026, Baldwin pleaded guilty to one count of possession of controlled substances with intent to distribute and one count of being a felon in possession of firearms.

"Mr. Baldwin is an armed drug trafficker that has, over and over, endangered our communities," said U.S. Attorney Michael J. Heyman for the District of Alaska. "Dangerous repeat offenders will not be tolerated. Our law enforcement partners are working diligently every day to hold habitual offenders, like Mr. Baldwin, accountable and taking them off the streets."

"Mr. Baldwin engaged in drug trafficking while illegally carrying a firearm as a convicted felon - a combination that put innocent lives at risk in our community," said Special Agent in Charge Matthew Schlegel of the FBI Anchorage Field Office. "Protecting our communities from drug trafficking and violence remains a top priority for the FBI. We will continue working closely with our law enforcement partners to disrupt these activities and keep our neighborhoods safe."

The FBI Anchorage Field Office and the Anchorage Police Department investigated this case as part of the FBI's Safe Streets Task Force. Additional assistance was provided by the Alaska State Troopers as part of the Fairbanks Areawide Narcotics Team (FANT) and the U.S. Marshals Service.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Amy Miller prosecuted the case.

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