Washington man sentenced to more than six years in prison for trafficking meth, fentanyl; illegal possession of firearm in Havre area

GREAT FALLS - A Washington man who admitted to trafficking methamphetamine and fentanyl pills in the Havre area and to illegally possessing a gun was sentenced on Tuesday to six years and six months in prison, to be followed by five years of supervised release, U.S. Attorney Jesse Laslovich said today.

The defendant, Travis Lee Brown, 42, of Yakima, Washington, pleaded guilty in April to conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute controlled substances and to prohibited person in possession of a firearm.

Chief U.S. District Judge Brian M. Morris presided.

In court documents, the government alleged that in 2022, Brown worked as a meth and fentanyl distributor who was selling drugs from a hotel in Havre and sending proceeds back to Mexico. In October 2022, law enforcement saw Brown load a bag into the trunk of a car in which he was a passenger. After a traffic stop, law enforcement executed a search warrant on the vehicle and found a bag that contained 1,275 fentanyl pills, a small amount of meth and a 9mm pistol that Brown was seen holding in photographs. At the time of sentencing, Brown had been convicted of illegally possessing a firearm or being a felon in possession of a firearm five times since 2006.

The U.S. Attorney's Office prosecuted the case. The Tri-Agency Task Force, Drug Enforcement Administration and Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives conducted the investigation.

This case is part of Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN), a program bringing together all levels of law enforcement and the communities they serve to reduce violent crime and gun violence, and to make our neighborhoods safer for everyone. On May 26, 2021, the Department launched a violent crime reduction strategy strengthening PSN based on these core principles: fostering trust and legitimacy in our communities, supporting community-based organizations that help prevent violence from occurring in the first place, setting focused and strategic enforcement priorities, and measuring the results. For more information about Project Safe Neighborhoods, please visit Justice.gov/PSN.

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