MISSOULA - A Missoula man who admitted to drug trafficking charges was sentenced Wednesday to five years and 10 months in prison, to be followed by five years of supervised release,
U.S. Attorney Jesse Laslovich says 25-year-old James Allyn Batterton pleaded guilty in January to trafficking methamphetamine in the community after law enforcement seized approximately seven pounds of the drug that were associated with him
Prosecutors alleged in court documents that in February 2022, law enforcement executed multiple state search warrants in Missoula and Beaverhead counties and seized approximately seven pounds of meth from two U.S. Postal Service boxes bound for addresses associated with Batterton.
Officers also seized additional meth and firearms from multiple homes and vehicles belonging to Batterton. The government further alleged that Batterton imported meth into Montana through the U.S. Postal Service and resold it in Western Montana.
Batterton is believed to have distributed nearly 30 pounds of the drug which is the equivalent of 108,720 doses.
U.S. District Judge Dana L. Christensen presided over the case.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Tara J. Elliott prosecuted the case, which was investigated by the Missoula High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area Task Force.
