MISSOULA — A Missoula man accused of dealing large quantities of methamphetamine in the community and of having nine pounds of the drug at his property and vehicle admitted to a trafficking crime on Tuesday, Acting U.S. Attorney Leif M. Johnson said.
Terry David Starrett, 53, pleaded guilty to possession with intent to distribute meth and faces a mandatory minimum of five years to 40 years in prison, a $5 million fine and at least four years of supervised release.
Sentencing was set for Sept. 2 before U.S. District Court Judge Donald W. Molloy. Starrett was detained pending further proceedings.
The government alleged in court documents that law enforcement served a federal search warrant on Jan. 7 and recovered more than nine pounds of meth from Starrett’s rental property and his vehicle. Nine pounds of meth is the equivalent of about 32,616 individual doses.
The government further alleged that Starrett sold an undercover informant about two ounces of meth in December 2020 and that he trafficked meth from Washington to Montana once or twice a week.
In addition, in the fall of 2020, Starrett traveled to California with another person and returned to Missoula with about 15 pounds of meth. Fifteen pounds of meth is the equivalent of about 54,360 individual doses.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Tara J. Elliott is prosecuting the case, which was investigated by the FBI, the Missoula Police Department, Missoula County Sheriff’s Office and Missouri River Drug Task Force.
