The United States Attorney's Office announced that during a federal court session in Missoula, on July 7, 2011, before U.S. District Judge Donald W. Molloy, STEVEN WANDLE, a 21-year-old resident of Butte, appeared for sentencing. WANDLE was sentenced to a term of:

Prison: 42 months

Special Assessment: $100

Supervised Release: 5 years

WANDLE was sentenced in connection with his guilty plea to conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine.

In an Offer of Proof filed by Assistant U.S. Attorney Tara J. Elliott, the government stated it would have proved at trial the following:

Between April of 2009 and June of 2010, WANDLE conspired to distribute more than 500 grams of methamphetamine in Silver Bow County and elsewhere.

A Confidential Source (CS) would have testified that WANDLE and a co-conspirator (CC) obtained and distributed methamphetamine from a source of supply (SOS) in Oregon. The "CS" would have testified that WANDLE provided approximately $6,000 to $8,0000 to the "CC" in late November 2009.

On February 18, 2010, WANDLE was interviewed and admitted to renting and paying for a hotel room in Butte for the Oregon "SOS" and to receiving at least 1.5 pounds of methamphetamine from the "SOS" on at least 2 occasions. Each time WANDLE paid the "SOS" $6,000.

Because there is no parole in the federal system, the "truth in sentencing" guidelines mandate that WANDLE will likely serve all of the time imposed by the court. In the federal system, WANDLE does have the opportunity to earn a sentence reduction for "good behavior." However, this reduction will not exceed 15% of the overall sentence.

The investigation was a cooperative effort between the Drug Enforcement Administration and U.S. Homeland Security Investigations.

 

 

Return to Top