MISSOULA, Mont. — An investigation into overdoses in 2017 in Bozeman resulted in the sentencing today of three men convicted of drug trafficking and other charges, U.S. Attorney Kurt Alme said.
Dylan Joseph Jardin, 21, of Bozeman, was sentenced to seven years in prison and three years of supervised release. He was ordered to pay $10,925 restitution and to forfeit $4,012. Jardin pleaded guilty in June to conspiracy to distribute and possession with intent to distribute cocaine, methamphetamine, oxycodone and carfentanil.
Rady Charles Waters, 22, was sentenced to one year and one day in prison and three years of supervised release. Waters pleaded guilty in June to possession with intent to distribute cocaine.
Artemus Lavelle Brock, also known as “Al Beezy”, 30, was sentenced to three years of probation. Brock pleaded guilty in June to possession of cocaine, a misdemeanor.
Court documents showed that investigators uncovered a drug distribution ring that led to Jardin and the co-defendants after law enforcement in Gallatin County responded to a series of drug overdoses in September 2017.
Five people who overdosed were revived after being given Narcan, which is an emergency treatment to restore breathing in cases of opiate and narcotic analgesic overdoses.
In interviews with law enforcement, Jardin admitted to distributing oxycodone pills and that he was aware of some of the overdoses. Jardin moved to Montana in 2015 and began selling cocaine, Xanax, meth, marijuana, oxycodone and other drugs. He obtained some of the pills through the dark web and had other sources who typically mailed drugs to him at various addresses in Bozeman. Jardin said he bought meth from sources in Las Vegas and sold drugs, including cocaine, to co-defendants Brent McCarthy, Waters and Brock.
Waters, prosecutors said, told law enforcement that he bought and received drugs from Jardin and acknowledged he had been selling cocaine.
McCarthy was convicted in the case and is pending sentencing.
Assistant U.S. Attorneys Jessica Betley and Tom Bartleson prosecuted the case, which was investigated by the Drug Enforcement Administration and the Missouri River Drug Task Force.
