A Sitka man has been sentenced to a four-year suspended prison term for his role in a 2018 drug hit that sent a woman to the hospital with gunshot wounds in both legs.
34-year old Aaron Keith Didrickson was sentenced on February 3 by Ketchikan Superior Court Judge William Carey. Didrickson had pleaded guilty to one count of assault in the third degree, and causing fear of injury with a weapon. Didrickson was previously convicted in US District Court for criminal drug conspiracy, and sentenced to time served.
According to court records, Didrickson was an accomplice in an incident in which two “enforcers” arrived in Sitka from New Mexico to collect on a drug debt in March of 2018.
Didrickson met Christina Quintana and Andrea Avalos at the Sitka airport and “ran errands” for them before taking them to Sollars Trailer Court where they awaited their target’s return from the grocery store.
When the victim and her boyfriend arrived in a taxi, they were forced inside at gunpoint, and Quintana shot the woman in both legs.
After the shooting, Didrickson drove Quintana and Avalos to a “wooded location.”
In the police investigation, Didrickson admitted selling a .22 caliber Smith & Wesson pistol to Avalos. He previously had sold a 10mm Glock pistol to one of the victims. Both weapons were found in Didrickson’s trash outside his home two days later.
The entire episode involved seven defendants, with Quintana taking the most jail time. In July of last year, she was sentenced in Superior Court to 20 years with no parole. In December, she was sentenced in US District court to 22-and-a-half years on drug trafficking charges, which she will serve concurrently with her state time.
Andrea Avalos also pleaded guilty to drug conspiracy in federal court, and will serve 12 years.
In addition to his suspended prison sentence, Didrickson will serve 5 years probation under state supervision.
