GREAT FALLS – Gary Allen Jimenez, a Heart Butte resident,
admitted drug distribution charges today for providing a minor with
methamphetamine on the Blackfeet Indian Reservation, U.S. Attorney Kurt Alme
said.
Jimenez, 24, pleaded guilty to distribution of a controlled
substance to a person under 21. Jimenez faces a minimum mandatory one year to
40 years in prison, a $2 million fine and at least six years to life of
supervised release.
U.S. District Judge Brian M. Morris presided and set
sentencing for Oct. 24. Jimenez is detained.
The prosecution said in court records that in early 2017,
FBI agents began investigating allegations that persons on the Blackfeet Indian
Reservation were providing meth and other drugs to minors. A juvenile girl was
identified as being involved in such activity and communicated with potential
meth dealers through Facebook. A search of the juvenile’s Facebook accounts
identified Jimenez as being involved in illicit transactions with the juvenile,
who at the time was between 12 and 14 years of age. The juvenile told law
enforcement that he provided her with meth on multiple occasions and that they
had smoked it together.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Jeff Starnes prosecuted the case,
which was investigated by the FBI and Blackfeet Tribal law enforcement.
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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