MISSOULA — A Deer Lodge man who admitted to receiving packages of methamphetamine in the mail for re-distribution and to illegally possessing firearms was sentenced Thursday to five years in prison and to five years of supervised release.
Shawn James Miller, 33, pleaded guilty on Feb. 18 to possession with intent to distribute controlled substances and to prohibited person in possession of a firearm.
U.S. District Judge Dana L. Christensen presided. Miller was detained.
The government alleged in court documents that law enforcement learned Miller was involved in drug trafficking in Montana from about 2017 until 2020. Miller admitted to investigators that he received and possessed packages of meth through the mail for re-distribution. The investigation determined that Miller sent a package containing $4,000 cash to California. The government further alleged Miller aided drug trafficking activities by wiring money to the Dominican Republic and Mexico, in addition to other locations, and that Miller was conservatively responsible for at least two pounds of meth, which is the equivalent of 7,248 doses, in Montana’s communities. Miller also pawned two firearms in Butte in March 2020 after having been convicted of multiple felonies in Montana. Co-defendants Humberto Horiol Medina Villarreal and Charles Joshua Petty have pleaded guilty in the case and are awaiting sentencing.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Ryan G. Weldon prosecuted the case, which was investigated by the Montana Division of Criminal Investigation, Butte Police Department, Drug Enforcement Administration, Homeland Security Investigations and Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.
This case is part of Project Safe Neighborhoods, a U.S. Department of Justice initiative to reduce violent crime. Through PSN, federal, tribal, state and local law enforcement partners in Montana focus on violent crime driven by methamphetamine trafficking, armed robbers, firearms offenses and violent offenders with outstanding warrants.
