[/caption]This is Junior Latocha, and HE is the reason that my mother was arrested in 2008 and why people STILL refer to her as an addict and a drug pusher, even though neither is true.
The man that set my mother up was someone I never would have expected. Perhaps I would not have been so upset if the person who virtually destroyed my mother’s life was not aware of her circumstances and physical condition, but he was well aware. In fact recognizing her vulnerability was probably what inspired him to target her in the first place.
He is the older brother of one of my “friends”, and I have known the Latochas for almost 8 years.
I went to school with his younger brother and once in awhile even hung out with him. They all knew my mom was physically disabled, had chronic pain, and was in the process of losing her husband of 23 years, which resulted in both depression and heartache. And of course they also knew that she had pain pills.
I really thought that since the whole town knew of my mother’s condition that the last thing anyone, especially one of my “friends”, would ever do was victimize her further. Really the ONLY reason that Junior was able to manipulate her into selling her pills was because she was having a battle with her insurance company. They wanted her to come up with $800 more each time she got a new prescription filled. There was simply no way she could ever afford that, she could barely even afford to put gas in the car, and without her medications she would become so deathly ill she would have to go to the hospital. My mother’s pain was absolutely unbearable, so she was desperate to come up with the money somehow
It is still a mystery as to how Junior got my mother’s phone number because the phone she was using was originally Bristol’s phone. (My mom bought both Levi and Bristol new phones right after she found out that Bristol was pregnant because Sarah refused to pay for hers anymore. But after one of Levi and Bristol’s many fights she SHIPPED her phone back to my mom in the MAIL. Since my mom had been using an old brick phone she decided to upgrade to Bristol’s Blackberry and got rid of her old one). So I don't know whether Bristol was in contact with Junior, or if he just did his research to find my mother’s number. We are still confused by the circumstances leading up his initial contact.
He started out texting her everyday at first, often multiple times in the same day, trying to convince her to sell her prescription medication. Then later he started to call and talk to her on the phone.
He worked very hard at convincing my mother to sell her pills and used all of the things he knew about her and our family to wear her down. He said things like “I know you have kids, and I know you need the money. What are you going to let them starve? Your husband is leaving you, he is gone now! What other choices do you have? You’re disabled! This is the only way to feed and put your kids through school!”
After months of this kind of persistence unfortunately she gave in because she was desperate to find a way to pay for her medication and to buy food for the family. She is very ashamed of that decision and I know she regrets it every minute of every day.
What my mother could not have known was that Junior Latocha was working undercover for the police in an agreement that would significantly lessen his own sentence. (Word on the street is that the police wanted someone connected to the Palins in order to get back at Sarah. I don’t know if that is true, but I wouldn’t doubt it.) When my mother's insurance company finally fixed the glitch in December, and started paying for ALL of her medications, she refused to sell anymore of her pills to Junior. He tried numerous times to convince her to give in and sell him a few, but she stood firm. Interestingly enough it was only after she STOPPED selling her medications that the police came to arrest her.
The police officer in charge of my mother’s case acknowledged that she believed they had made a mistake in allowing Junior to set my mom up. She said that although what my mom did was wrong she understood the motivation to want to put food on the table, and to keep the heat and electricity turned on.
I heard one police officer say, even while they were going through our house looking for evidence of a drug operation, that “This lady is not a criminal she is just trying to survive, this is down right sad.”
My mom wasn’t a drug dealer like Junior Latocha. She was just trying to do all that she could to get by. I am not saying that what she did was okay, but I too understand why she did it.
Junior on the other hand is an actual DRUG DEALER who is STILL actively selling drugs to people in not only Wasilla and Palmer, but also Anchorage! I have heard from various people I know that he is the biggest Oxycontin dealer in the Valley who receives packages through the mail with hundreds of Oxycontin pills to sell, and I know for a FACT he is still out there selling because I have seen him!! I have also heard that his relationship with the police has changed and that now he is avoiding them for fear of getting arrested again. Yet I still see him around town sometimes and I just saw him just the other day at the State Fair.
I swear it makes me sick to my stomach every time I see that scum!
I really wanted to put this information out for everybody to see even though this could be dangerous for me. You never know what these people are capable of, and I have seen this group do some pretty awful things to people.
But I will not stop until I see justice done for my family. I do not think the sentence my mother got was fair. How was it that Todd’s sister could rob multiple houses to feed her drug addiction, with her four year old daughter along for the ride, and receive such a light sentence? How did Junior get off just by agreeing to set up a poor lady desperate to reduce her pain and care for her family? How are THEY less deserving of a harsher sentence than my mother?
Today Junior Latocha continues his life of crime, and keeps spreading his poison throughout the Valley with no end in sight, while my mother is a virtual prisoner in her own home.
So you tell me, where is the justice?
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