A Browning man accused of being a methamphetamine dealer on the Blackfeet Indian Reservation admitted to a trafficking crime on Sept. 20, Acting U.S. Attorney Leif M. Johnson said.
Steven Roy DeCarlo, 31, pleaded guilty to possession with intent to distribute controlled substances and faces a mandatory minimum of 10 years to life in prison, a $10 million fine and at least five years of supervised release.
Chief U.S. District Judge Brian M. Morris presided. Chief Judge Morris set sentencing for Jan. 13 and DeCarlo was detained pending further proceedings.
Law enforcement had several encounters with DeCarlo in 2020 and responded to a report of gunshots in a field on the reservation on July 31, according to court documents. Officers saw two vehicles at the scene, one of which drove away while the other, which DeCarlo was in, remained there.
During a consent search of the vehicle and DeCarlo, officers found drug paraphernalia and $500 while the second vehicle, driven by a person identified as Jane Doe, returned. Officers executed a search warrant on that vehicle and found $1,500 and meth, according to court documents.
DeCarlo told investigators that he and Jane Doe were involved in getting meth, which Jane Doe had been distributing. DeCarlo told officers he had financed multiple purchases of meth that Jane Doe had made with the supplier. DeCarlo later admitted to personally bringing a pound of meth, or 3,624 doses, from out of state to the reservation for distribution.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Ethan R. Plaut is prosecuting the case, which was investigated by the FBI, Homeland Security Investigations and Blackfeet Law Enforcement Services.
This case is part of Project Safe Neighborhoods, a U.S. Department of Justice initiative to reduce violent crime. Through PSN, federal, tribal, state and local law enforcement partners in Montana focus on violent crime driven by methamphetamine trafficking, armed robbers, firearms offenses and violent offenders with outstanding warrants.