Drug trafficker sentenced to five years in prison

A Polson man will spend the next five years in federal prison for trafficking drugs.

Kelly Gordon Dupuis, 26, was sentenced in U.S. District Court in Missoula last week after he pleaded guilty to felony possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine.

Judge Donald W. Molloy recommended that Dupuis be sent to a drug treatment center and camp in California.

According to court documents Dupuis and two others drove to Arizona in July 2015 to purchase five pounds of methamphetamine.

They were only able to obtain a little less than two pounds of methamphetamine. When the three returned to Montana, one of the other travelers paid Dupuis $2,750 for the trip and gave him one ounce of methamphetamine. Dupuis was expected to pay the other traveler $1,100 later.

Dupuis’ federal sentence will run concurrent with a state sentence imposed in February by Lake County District Court.

Dupuis had his felony probation revoked for burglary in that case. Dupuis broke into a Ronan store and stole a bank deposit and small safe on Jan. 18, 2015.

Dupuis was sentenced to 20 years with the Montana Department of Corrections, with 15 years suspended. In May the Montana Sentence Review Division of the Montana Supreme Court unanimously voted to reduce the sentence, which it said is “clearly excessive.”

The sentence was reduced to 10 years with the Montana Department of Corrections, with five years suspended.

The two people who traveled with Dupuis, James Michael Randall, 31, and Kaulika Thara Aresenberg, 35, both of Missoula, will be sentenced on Sept. 22.

The case was investigated by the Missoula High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area Task Force and the Drug Enforcement Administration.

Reporter Megan Strickland can be reached at 758-4459 or mstrickland@dailyinterlake.com.