Five drug runners plead guilty
Five people involved in a drug trafficking operation that funneled methamphetamine from Spokane to Northwest Montana have been convicted of federal narcotics charges.
The drug supply ring, which started transporting methamphetamine in small quantities, graduated to moving several pounds of drugs weekly into Flathead and Lincoln counties by the end of 2007, according to federal court papers.
Northwest Montana Drug Task Force Commander Russ Papke has said the bust "made a significant impact on methamphetamine availability" in the Flathead Valley.
During hearings last week in U.S. District Court in Missoula, the five defendants - 34-year-old Jamie Lane Lake (also known in Montana as Jamie Lane Conrad), 35-year-old Donovan Wayne Dehnel of Spokane, 39-year-old Daniel Lyn Bennett of Spokane, 38-year-old Scott Allen Shirley of Kalispell and 29-year-old Justin Bradford Hessler of Kalispell - pleaded guilty to conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine.
A sixth man, Christopher Thomas Fraleigh, 25, of Kalispell pleaded guilty in April to the same charge. Two other people were indicted in connection with the drug ring.
Federal prosecutors believe Lake, the trafficking operation's primary supplier, along with Shirley and two other people - who are cooperating with the investigation - transported the methamphetamine from Spokane to Kalispell by vehicle. Bennett would accompany Lake as security on these drug runs.
Fraleigh, who met Lake at a Spokane bar in late spring or early summer 2007, estimated that between September and November that year, Lake was transporting three pounds of methamphetamine a week into Kalispell.
The drug operation, which used motel rooms as meeting places and rental cars for transportation, sometimes enlisted runners to move the drugs.
Fraleigh's rented Kalispell trailer served as a meeting place and dealing location. Ultimately, Lake rented the trailer and used it as a drug house, court documents show.
Shirley and Hessler both admitted to participating in the drug runs or selling methamphetamine for Lake, according to prosecutors. Hessler, who wired money from Montana to Lake in Spokane, told investigators he sometimes received methamphetamine at Fraleigh's trailer.
Shirley, who reportedly described owing Lake money and having a car taken from him to pay off the debt, also was ordered to collect money from people who owed him to pay back Lake.
Dehnel, who was connected to the group through his girlfriend, sold methamphetamine in gram quantities, documents show.
Lake, Dehnel, Bennett, Shirley, and Hessler are scheduled to be sentenced Sept. 24 and 25. Fraleigh's sentencing hearing is July 10. The charges carry a mandatory minimum of 10 years' incarceration or up to life in prison.
The 16-month investigation, which used both confidential informants and undercover officers, was conducted by the Northwest Montana Drug Task Force, Montana Division of Criminal Investigation, U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, and the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.
Reporter Nicholas Ledden can be reached at 758-4441 or by e-mail at nledden@dailyinterlake.com