Cocaine, meth and heroin dealer sentenced to prison

GREAT FALLS — A Great Falls man who admitted selling multiple drugs in the Great Falls area was sentenced today to 54 months in prison and four years of supervised release, U.S. Attorney Kurt Alme said.

Gabriel Louis Norlin, 30, pleaded guilty in March to possession with intent to distribute controlled substances.

Chief U.S. District Judge Brian Morris presided.

In court documents filed in the case, the prosecution said that in September 2019, Russell Country Drug Task Force officers received information that Norlin was selling cocaine and heroin and that he was traveling to California to pick up narcotics for redistribution in Montana. In October 2019, law enforcement officers stopped and seized a truck Norlin was driving near Four Corners, towed it to Belgrade and conducted a search. Law enforcement officers found numerous bags of drugs, including two bags totaling about two pounds of cocaine. Two pounds of cocaine is the equivalent of about 7,610 doses. Norlin admitted later to detectives that he had been selling cocaine, methamphetamine and heroin.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Jessica Betley prosecuted the case, which was investigated by the Drug Enforcement Administration and the Russell Country Drug Task Force.

This case is part of Project Safe Neighborhoods, a U.S. Department of Justice initiative to reduce violent crime. According to the FBI’s Uniform Crime Reports, violent crime in Montana increased by 36% from 2013 to 2018. 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.

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