GREAT FALLS — A Browning man who admitted to dealing methamphetamine on the Blackfeet Indian Reservation was sentenced in federal court in Great Falls on Thursday.
Steven Roy DeCarlo, 31, pleaded guilty in September 2021 to possession with intent to distribute controlled substances.
Court documents state that on May 22, 2020, officers with Blackfeet Law Enforcement Services found DeCarlo slumped behind the wheel of a vehicle that had gone off the road on the Blackfeet Reservation. He was arrested for suspected impaired driving.
He had a small bag of what he admitted was methamphetamine on his person. There was a loaded AK-47 style assault rifle in the vehicle. He admitted he had used methamphetamine during the days prior to this arrest, and that he had shared his methamphetamine with one other individual.
The vehicle was searched, and officers found drug use and distribution paraphernalia, such as a scale and small plastic bags.
On July 31, 2020, officers responded to a report of gunshots in a field on the Blackfeet Indian Reservation. They saw two vehicles at the scene, one of which drove away as the officers approached. DeCarlo was inside the vehicle that had remained at the scene.
A consent search of his vehicle and a pat search of his person recovered drug paraphernalia and approximately $500 in cash. Meanwhile, the other vehicle returned to the scene, with "Jane Doe" driving. When drug paraphernalia was also observed in that vehicle, a search warrant was obtained to search it.
Law enforcement located approximately $1,500 concealed in that vehicle, and also three bags of suspected methamphetamine. That substance was later determined by the DEA laboratory to be approximately 18 grams of 100% pure methamphetamine.
DeCarlo later admitted to personally bringing a pound of meth from out of state to the reservation for distribution. A pound of meth is the equivalent of 3,624 doses.
Chief U.S. District Judge Brian M. Morris presided and sentenced DeCarlo to 68 months in prison, followed by four years of supervised release, U.S. Attorney Leif M. Johnson said in a news release.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Ethan R. Plaut prosecuted the case, which was investigated by the FBI, Homeland Security Investigations, Blackfeet Law Enforcement Services and Polson Police Department.
