Man gets prison term for cocaine distribution

The Daily Inter Lake

A Kalispell man convicted of distributing cocaine has been sentenced to 40 months in federal prison.

During his sentencing hearing Wednesday in U.S. District Court in Missoula, Craig Coolidge, 32, also was ordered to serve five years on supervised release and fulfill 250 hours of community service.

Agents with U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement began investigating Coolidge in December 2007 after an informant revealed Coolidge was buying cocaine in Arizona and transporting it into the Kalispell area, according to court documents.

Investigators were told when Coolidge's next deal would take place, who would drive the shipment back to Kalispell, and even the hotel in Tucson where Coolidge would stay when he flew down to consummate the sale.

Coolidge flew to Arizona to make the buy before returning to Kalispell and then driving down to Tucson to pick up the cocaine.

Investigators confirmed the information and attached a tracking device to a car rented in Kalispell before the driver picked it up for the trip down to Arizona.

After tracking the vehicle from Montana to Tucson and back, agents stopped the car and found approximately 2 kilograms of cocaine.

Agents later found another 840 grams of cocaine, a kilogram of marijuana, $13,000 in cash and several firearms in Coolidge's residence.

He pleaded guilty in May to conspiracy to distribute cocaine.