GREAT FALLS — A man who towed a camper to the Fort Peck Indian Reservation and trafficked methamphetamine in the community was sentenced in federal court in Great Falls on Thursday.
Andrew Michael Gomez, 33, pleaded guilty on Sept. 14 to conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute meth. Chief U.S. District Judge Brian M. Morris presided, and sentenced Gomez to 10 years in prison and five years of supervised release, Acting U.S. Attorney Leif Johnson said in a news release.
According to court documents, prosecutors said that Gomez and his co-defendant, Jeffrey Allen Dabb, 39, both of Ogden, Utah, towed a camper from Utah and rented a vacant lot on the reservation.
In August 2019, a Wolf Point Police officer received information about drug activity on property where the camper was parked. The officer obtained a tribal search warrant to enter the property and seize the camper.
Gomez, Dabb, and another individual were in the camper. Dabb said that they were in the area to work in the North Dakota oil fields and denied there was anything illegal in the camper.
During a search of the camper, law enforcement found more than 6.5 ounces of meth, drug ledgers, electronic money transfer receipts showing money wires to individuals in Utah, a set of brass knuckles with a built-in knife, scales, baggies and other drug paraphernalia.
Gomez attempted to further the meth trafficking conspiracy while incarcerated on state charges by urging individuals to recover and sell the drugs, which he thought were still hidden in the camper.
Dabb was convicted in the case and sentenced to 51 months in prison.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Ethan Plaut prosecuted the case, which was investigated by the FBI, Fort Peck Law Enforcement Services, Wolf Point Police Department and Roosevelt County Sheriff’s Office.
