Editor’s Note: In earlier versions of this article, we posted the incorrect mugshot. We apologize for the error.
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A Missoula man who admitted possessing methamphetamine for distribution in the community will spend 12 years in prison.
Matthew Curtis Olson, 36, will also be subject to five years of supervised release, said U.S. Attorney Kurt Alme. Olson was also ordered to forfeit $4,247.
Olson pleaded guilty in July to possession with intent to distribute meth.
In court records filed in the case, the prosecution said the Missoula Police Department stopped a pickup truck occupied by Olson and another person, identified as Individual 1, in September 2017.
Individual 1 told officers that Olson had spilled meth in the truck earlier. Police arrested Olson for driving with a suspended license and during a search of him, officers found a small amount of meth and a digital scale.
Missoula police officers later executed a search warrant on the truck and found about 420 grams of meth inside a hidden compartment. Individual 1 later claimed ownership of the truck and denied Olson knew of the presence of the large amount of meth that was seized.
Prosecutors say various law enforcement officers in Missoula interviewed a number of cooperating witnesses associated with Olson from August 2018 to about June 2019.
The witnesses said that Olson had possessed with intent to distribute and had distributed more than 500 grams, which is about 1.1 pounds or a little more than 3,624 doses, of meth.
Olson was arrested on February 1 on a federal drug trafficking warrant as he was leaving the home of an associate.
Officers seized about one ounce of meth from Olson along with about $4,247 in U.S. currency. Law enforcement also searched the associate’s home and found six ounces of meth and nearly $15,000 in U.S. currency.
