GREAT FALLS - The United States Attorney’s Office announced today that 32-year old Tacuma Wallace of Ogden, Utah, was sentenced to 12 months and one day in prison, three years of supervised release, and a $100 special assessment. U.S. District Judge Brian M. Morris presided over the hearing.
On May 12, 2016, law enforcement in Roosevelt County received information that Wallace was selling drugs out of a hotel in Wolf Point, Montana. On May 16, 2016, officers witnessed the defendant leave the hotel and get into his rental car in the parking lot. The officers then observed Wallace engage in numerous people approach the car and receive drugs from Wallace.
Wallace and another man then left the parking lot in a truck. Officers conducted a traffic stop on the truck, and Wallace quickly opened the back door and tried to get out and run away. Meanwhile, another officer spoke with the driver who explained that he had known Wallace for two months and Wallace sold pills on the Fort Peck Indian Reservation. The driver admitted he had purchased pills from Wallace at least 20 separate times, and he had just purchased a pill from Wallace for $70.00. The driver also stated Wallace specifically makes trips to Wolf Point to sell pills. Law enforcement tested pills possessed by the defendant and confirmed they were Oxycodone pills. Law enforcement also confirmed that Wallace was one of the biggest suppliers of pills to the Fort Peck Indian Reservation.
The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Jessica Betley and investigated by the Drug Enforcement Administration and the Roosevelt County Sheriff’s Office.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office is partnering with federal, state, local and tribal law enforcement to identify those responsible for significant violent crime in Montana. A centerpiece of this effort is Project Safe Neighborhoods, a recently reinvigorated Department of Justice program that has proven to be successful in reducing violent crime. Today’s sentencing is part of the Project Safe Neighborhoods program.
Source: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of the United States Attorneys
