MISSOULA — A Washington man was sentenced on Tuesday, Nov. 19, to seven years in federal prison on drug trafficking charges.
Michael Davis Bryant, 48, of Spokane was convicted of trafficking methamphetamine and fentanyl on the Flathead Indian Reservation after law enforcement found more than 5,000 fentanyl pills and meth in his car, U.S. Attorney Jesse Laslovich announced.
Bryant had pleaded guilty in July to possession with intent to distribute controlled substances.
The government alleged in court documents that the Northwest Drug Task Force was investigating meth and fentanyl distribution on the Flathead Reservation in 2021 and identified Bryant as a source of the drugs brought into Montana for distribution.
Prosecutors said that in January 2022, agents with the Bureau of Indian Affairs and Drug Enforcement Administration conducted a controlled purchase in Spokane of 1,000 fentanyl pills from Bryant.
Later that month, law enforcement tracked Bryant to the Flathead Reservation where law enforcement had learned Bryant was in a house and had a large quantity of fentanyl pills he was trying to sell.
Bryant fled when law enforcement attempted to contact him. Officers searched Bryan’s car and located 5,636 fentanyl pills, a large quantity of meth and several scales.
Bryant was arrested the next day on an outstanding federal warrant. He had a key to his vehicle on a lanyard around his neck.
U.S. District Judge Donald W. Molloy presided over the sentencing.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office prosecuted the case. The Northwest Drug Task Force, Flathead Tribal Police Department, Homeland Security Investigations, BIA and DEA conducted the investigation.
