Missoula man gets prison for drug distribution and firearms possession

Missoula—A Missoula man who admitted distributing methamphetamine and other drugs and to having multiple firearms was sentenced today to eight years in prison and to five years of supervised release, U.S. Attorney Kurt Alme said.

Nickolas William Povsha, 24, pleaded guilty earlier to possession with intent to distribute controlled substances and to possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime.

Chief U.S. District Judge Dana L. Christensen presided at sentencing.

Prosecutors said in court records that Povsha twice sold a confidential informant MDMA, commonly known as ecstasy, in April and May 2018. And in July 2018, pursuant to a federal search warrant, two packages belonging to Povsha were intercepted and searched. One package contained more than 50 grams of pure methamphetamine and the other contained marijuana seeds. A third package was searched at a later date and was found to contain Xanax.

Law enforcement also executed a search warrant at Povsha’s residence in August 2018 and found multiple firearms, ammunition, drugs, a scale and other items.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Tara Elliott prosecuted the case, which was investigated by the Missoula High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area Task Force and Homeland Security Investigations.

 The case is part of Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN), which is the centerpiece of the Department of Justice’s violent crime reduction efforts.  PSN is an evidence-based program proven to be effective at reducing violent crime. Through PSN, a broad spectrum of stakeholders work together to identify the most pressing violent crime problems in the community and develop comprehensive solutions to address them. As part of this strategy, PSN focuses enforcement efforts on the most violent offenders and partners with locally based prevention and reentry programs for lasting reductions in crime.

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