Californian denies local drug trafficking in Kalispell
A California man has denied allegations of trafficking large quantities of methamphetamine, heroin and cocaine in the Kalispell area.
Salvador Andaya Curiel, 28, pleaded not guilty Feb. 12 in U.S. Federal District Court to felony conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine, possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine, and distribution of methamphetamine.
According to court documents, Curiel instructed an associate, Kenneth Chandler, to collect a drug debt worth $4,000 at a home in Kalispell on Feb. 6, 2014. Chandler was observed giving the debtor one ounce of methamphetamine and one ounce of cocaine at the end of the exchange.
The same person allegedly then bought another $4,000 worth of methamphetamine in Kalispell on Feb. 14, 2014.
A third buy was allegedly arranged for eight ounces of methamphetamine and eight ounces of cocaine on Feb. 25, 2014. Curiel was arrested at the meeting spot at a gas station.
Curiel allegedly confessed to trafficking large quantities of heroin, meth, and cocaine into the Flathead Valley from California in the three months leading up to his arrest.
Eight ounces of methamphetamine and eight ounces of cocaine were allegedly found in a search of the vehicle. A search of his motel room in Kalispell allegedly found another seven ounces of methamphetamine.
If convicted, Curiel faces up to life in prison and $10 million in fines.
Curiel’s co-defendant, Chandler, 35, was sentenced to 70 months in federal prison in June 2015.
Chandler’s federal sentence is running concurrent with an eight-year state sentence from Flathead District Court in October 2015. In that case, a Montana Highway Patrol trooper testified that Chandler gave a fictitious name when he was stopped on Foy’s Lake Road on Aug. 17, 2014, and was found to have two handguns, ammunition, scales, 76 “dime bags” with hazard stickers on them and 30 grams of methamphetamine.
State prosecutors dropped the charges but the trooper’s testimony was enough to revoke Chandler’s suspended sentences from 2003 and 2010 for distribution of dangerous drugs and burglary.
The Federal Bureau of Investigation and Department of Homeland Security investigated the federal case.
Reporter Megan Strickland can be reached at 758-4459 or mstrickland@dailyinterlake.com.