Two get prison for smuggling marijuana

Marijuana found in a trailer at the Port of Piegan was worth $6 to $8 million.

Two Flathead Valley men are headed to federal prison for smuggling marijuana into Montana from Canada.

Jedediah Atkinson, 25, of Columbia Falls and Shannon Farmer, 31, of Kalispell were sentenced Thursday in U.S. District Court in Missoula.

Atkinson was arrested at the Port of Piegan on April 13, driving a truck that towed a car trailer. Inspectors at the border discovered a secret compartment at the front of the trailer. Inside they found duffel bags containing more than 1,000 pounds of marijuana.

The marijuana was valued at $6 million to $8 million.

Atkinson pleaded guilty to smuggling marijuana.

District Judge Donald Molloy sentenced Atkinson to two years and three months in prison, followed by three years of supervised release.

Farmer pleaded guilty to conspiracy to import marijuana and Ecstasy.

Between November 2003 and until his arrest in April, he conspired to bring the drug into Montana.

An undercover officer with the Northwest Drug Task Force said local officers had been aware that Farmer was importing drugs from Canada.

Farmer's market for marijuana wasn't local, the officer said.

"It was going out to other states," he said.

It was at Farmer's behest that Atkinson imported the April shipment, officials said.

The undercover drug officer praised a customs enforcement agent for discovering the secret trailer compartment. He noticed different tones by knocking on the exterior and also found that the outside of the trailer was longer than the interior.

Molloy on Thursday sentenced Farmer to seven years and 11 months in prison, followed by three years of supervised release.

That's not enough, the undercover officer said.

"We have a big problem with B.C. Bud" - a high-quality marijuana named after British Columbia, Canada, the officer said.

Considering that Farmer was caught moving half a ton of the drug into the country, his sentence "is pretty light for that much" marijuana, he said.

Farmer was previously arrested in a "chop shop" operation in November 2002. That involved a business west of town where stolen vehicles were disassembled and the parts were used to rebuild wrecked vehicles.

Reporter Chery Sabol may be reached at 758-4441 or by e-mail at csabol@dailyinterlake.com