OGDEN, Utah – A Utah man charged with trafficking methamphetamine from a camper to the Fort Peck Indian Reservation in Montana has been sentenced to federal prison.
According to the U.S. Attorney’s Office District of Montana, 33-year-old Andrew Gomez of Ogden pleaded guilty to conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute methamphetamine.
He has been sentenced to 10 years in prison and five years of supervised release, according to Acting U.S. Attorney Leif Johnson.
In court documents filed in the case, the prosecution says Gomez and his co-defendant, 39-year-old Jeffrey Dabb of Ogden, towed a camper from Utah and rented a vacant lot on the reservation.
In August 2019, a Wolf Point Police officer received information about drug activity on the lot where the camper was parked. The officer obtained a tribal search warrant to enter the property and seize the camper, according to court documents.
Gomez, Dabb, and another individual were in the camper. Dabb told authorities they were in the area to work in the North Dakota oil fields and denied there was anything illegal in the camper.
While searching the camper, law enforcement says they found more than 6.5 ounces of meth, drug ledgers, electronic money transfer receipts showing money wires to individuals in Utah, a set of brass knuckles with a built-in knife, scales, baggies, and other drug paraphernalia.
Authorities say Gomez then attempted to further the meth trafficking conspiracy while incarcerated on state charges by urging individuals to recover and sell the drugs, which he thought were still hidden in the camper.