GREAT FALLS, Mont. (NMB) – A California man has pleaded not guilty in U.S. District Court on allegations of possessing and distributing methamphetamine and heroin in north-central Montana.
Mitchell Joseph Wright, 40, of Palos Verdes, California, pleaded not guilty last week in Great Falls to the felony charges of conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute controlled substances and possession with intent to distribute controlled substances.
A Grand Jury indicted Wright on the two felonies on July 16th.
The indictment alleges that between April and June 2020 in Great Falls, Lewistown, and other undisclosed locations in Montana, Wright “knowingly and unlawfully conspired and agreed to possess, with the intent to distribute…50 or more grams of actual methamphetamine…and a substance containing a detectable amount of heroin…and did aid and abet the same.”
If convicted of the most serious crime, Wright faces a mandatory minimum of 10 years to life in prison, a $10 million fine and at least five years of supervised release.
Wright was detained pending further proceedings. The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, Great Falls Police Department, U.S. Postal Inspection Service and Lewistown Police Department investigated the case.
