A Kwethluk man has been sentenced to serve 36 years in prison after being convicted of kidnapping, assault, and a string of related charges stemming from a 2023 incident in the lower Kuskokwim River community.
According to a press release from the Alaska Department of Law, 32-year-old Daniel Nick kidnapped a female victim in Kwethluk, consumed alcohol and methamphetamines, and struck the victim in the face with the butt of a rifle. These acts were all committed in violation of court orders as part of a separate case to not return to Kwethluk, use or possess alcohol, possess firearms, or have contact with the same victim, according to the state.
Nick was initially arrested at the time of the incident after a standoff with Alaska State Troopers, during which troopers used pepper spray and tasers to force him out from a dilapidated single-room dwelling in Kwethluk, according to charging documents from the incident.
According to the state, the lengthy sentence was due to Nick’s history of violent behavior and past convictions; the nature of the relationship between Nick and the victim; the fact that the victim had provided testimony or evidence related to prior offenses committed by Nick; and Nick’s convictions for five or more misdemeanor offenses.
Prior to going to trial, the case included felony burglary charges against Nick for the theft of $43,000 in cash from the Kwethluk Native Store. But in June, the court ordered that these charges be refiled in another case, though that new case was ultimately dismissed due to suppression of a key piece of evidence.
In his sentencing decision, Bethel Superior Court Judge Nathaniel Peters found that Nick was a “worst offender,” a determination Peters said that he has only made a handful of times in his 10 years on the bench.
Following a four-day jury trial, Nick was convicted of two counts of felony assault, one count of felony kidnapping, one count of felony coercion, one count of felony misconduct involving a controlled substance, and four counts of violating conditions of release.
The case was prosecuted by the Alaska Office of Special Prosecutions’ Rural Prosecution Unit.
