Alleged 1994 pot trafficking fugitive turns up in Bay Area
SAN FRANCISCO >> In 1994, Ronald Victor Solakian was allegedly caught dropping off 7,000 pounds of marijuana onto a California beach. The day of his trial, he jumped bail and disappeared for 24 years.
But last month, Solakian was identified by federal authorities as a mysterious manwho’d tried to apply for a passport in the Bay Area, using the name of a child who died in 1953. Federal prosecutors are now exploring the possibility of linking his new identity theft case with his still-unresolved pot trafficking charges.
It all began in September 1994, when Drug Enforcement Administration agents arrested Solakian and several others for allegedly transporting more than 7,000 pounds of marijuana onto a Santa Barbara beach. A Los Angeles Times report said the group used rubber rafts to bring the marijuana from a sailboat to the shore, and described it as the biggest shipment of pot seized in a decade.
All told, seven people were charged. The alleged leader of the drug ring, Bruce H. Throckmorton, then 41, was ultimately convicted of conspiracy to distribute marijuana and other related charges, and sentenced to 21 years in prison, along with 10 years of supervised release. But Solakian took a different route.
After posting $250,000 bond, Solakian failed to show up for his and Throckmorton’s January 1995 trial. Solakian’s lawyer told a federal judge he’d made several unsuccessful attempts to reach his client, and the judge issued a warrant for Solakian’s arrest, according to court records.
Then, in February, Solakian, 69, now a Bay Area resident, allegedly filed for a passport in San Francisco under the name of a child who died in Santa Barbara in 1953. The child is only identified in court records by the initials “P.O.G.” Authorities say he was born in October 1947 and died in May 1953.
When Solakian was indicted, authorities were unsure of his name, and entered him into federal custody under the pseudonym “John Doe.” At his following court appearance, he was identified as Solakian. Before his next court appearance, scheduled for March 23, authorities are expected to determine whether they will consolidate his identity theft case with the marijuana conspiracy charges.