Alaska man sentenced for faking death to avoid prison term

ANCHORAGE, Alaska – A commercial fisherman who faked his death to avoid incarceration for a sexual assault has been sentenced to two and a half years in prison.

Federal prosecutors say the Coast Guard spent $384,261 searching for 35-year-old Ryan Meganack after his girlfriend, who was part of the scheme, reported him missing off Port Graham.

Meganack in 2016 faced state charges of sexually assaulting an incapacitated woman.

Investigators determined he swamped his skiff, returned to Port Graham on another boat and hid out near his mother’s home. He planned to flee Alaska when the search ended.

The plan went awry when Meganack’s girlfriend confessed to his grieving parents that Meganack was not dead.

U.S. District Judge Sharon Gleason ordered Meganack to serve 15 months in prison consecutive to his 15-year state sentence.