(Great Falls) U.S. Attorney Jesse Laslovich, for the District of Montana, along with multiple law enforcement partners were in Great Fall on Tuesday to announce the dismantling of a large fentanyl ring that brought tens of thousands of pills to Cascade County from Washington for distribution and led to the convictions of 10 individuals on Federal charges. The investigation also led to individuals facing charges in state court. Laslovich said that up to one hundred thousand fentanyl pills were distributed, enough to poison all of Cascade County.
“There are approximately 85,000 people who lived within Cascade County. So, the amount of pills being brought in by those trafficking fentanyl was enough to poison every single person in this county and then some. It gives you a feel for the problem we’re encountering, and it also gives you an appreciation, I hope, for the importance of operations such as this one.”
The investigation began in the Great Falls area in the fall of 2022 and led to the supplier, Joseph Allen Conner of Yakima, Washington being arrested in June of 2023, followed by the arrest of most of the other defendants, in a coordinated multi-agency takedown in October 2023 in Great Falls. Overall, the investigation led to the seizure of tens of thousands of fentanyl pills and at least seven firearms. The Case was investigated under the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force.
