MISSOULA-A Missoula man who admitted distributing methamphetamine in the community and trading firearms for drugs was sentenced today to six years in prison and five years of supervised release, U.S. Attorney Kurt Alme said.
Blade Michael Sorenson, 23, pleaded guilty in March to possession with intent to distribute meth and to possessing a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime.
Chief U.S. District Judge Dana L. Christensen presided.
The prosecution said in court records that from the summer of 2017 until about the fall of 2018, Sorenson was distributing large amounts of meth in the area and traded guns in exchange for drugs and cash. Multiple confidential informants told law enforcement of buying meth from Sorenson, seeing him with at least one pound of meth, trading firearms for meth, marijuana and cash and buying a.45 caliber handgun from him. A pound of meth is the equivalent of about 3,624 doses. In August 2018, a Missoula Police Department officer made a traffic stop on a vehicle in which Sorenson was a passenger. During a search of the vehicle, officers found meth and a semi-automatic handgun that Sorenson admitted were his.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Tara Elliott prosecuted the case, which was investigated by Montana Regional Violent Crimes Task Force.
The case is part of Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN), which is the centerpiece of the Department of Justice’s violent crime reduction efforts. PSN is an evidence-based program proven to be effective at reducing violent crime. Through PSN, a broad spectrum of stakeholders work together to identify the most pressing violent crime problems in the community and develop comprehensive solutions to address them. As part of this strategy, PSN focuses enforcement efforts on the most violent offenders and partners with locally based prevention and reentry programs for lasting reductions in crime.
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Source: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of the United States Attorneys
