MISSOULA - Two Missoula residents were sentenced Thursday for drug trafficking and firearm crimes.
U.S. Attorney Jesse Laslovich stated in a news release the pair were each sentenced to prison after law enforcement seized more than seven pounds of meth, fentanyl and firearms during an investigation.
Carlos Guatimea Augirre, 36, was sentenced to 15 years in prison, to be followed by five years of supervised release.
Aguirre pleaded guilty in May 2022 to possession with intent to distribute meth and fentanyl and to possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime.
Co-defendant Savannah Shoshana Smith, 38, was sentenced to five years and six months in prison, to be followed by four years of supervised release.
Smith pleaded guilty in May 2022 to possession with intent to distribute meth and fentanyl and to addict in possession of firearms and ammunition.
Prosecutors stated in court documents that law enforcement served a search warrant on the residence of Smith and Aguirre on Oct. 6, 2021.
Officers also performed a traffic stop on Aguirre and found a quarter pound of meth packaged for sale and a handgun that Aguirre had removed from his body.
Inside the residence, officers found approximately 6.9 pounds of meth and fentanyl pills.
Seven pounds of meth is the equivalent of about 25,368 doses, according to a news release.
Law enforcement also found 21 firearms throughout the home. Records showed that Smith purchased 22 firearms between February 2020 and August 2021.
Smith told officers that Aguirre would give her meth and she would trade the meth for opiate pills.
The investigation showed that Aguirre made numerous wire transfers totaling about $22,000 between August 2019 and September 2021 to addresses in Billings, Fresno, CA, Las Vegas, and Albuquerque.
Prosecutors also alleged Aguirre traveled multiple times to Fresno, where he also maintained a residence and had active links to gangs, and Sacramento and to Spokane.
Three of the firearms, all 9 mm pistols, that Smith purchased in Montana were recovered in Fresno in three separate criminal investigations that had gang associations.
U.S. District Judge Dana L. Christensen presided over the sentencing.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Jennifer S. Clark prosecuted the case, which was investigated by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, Homeland Security Investigations and the Missoula Police Department.
