GREAT FALLS-A couple who admitted to trafficking methamphetamine in the community in 2006 and 2007 and absconding for more than 10 years before their arrest this year in Oklahoma were sentenced to prison terms today, U.S. Attorney Kurt Alme said.
Jamie Alan Cordell, 45, and his wife, Tania Longtin, 43, both of Alta, Wyoming, pleaded guilty in June to possession with intent to distribute meth and to failure to appear after pre-trial release.
Cordell was sentenced to 36 months in prison followed by 3 years of supervised release and 400 hours of community service. Longtin was sentenced to 24 months in prison followed by 3 years of supervised release and 200 hours of community service. U.S. District Judge Brian M. Morris presided over both sentencing hearings.
In court records filed in the case, the prosecution said Cordell was involved in distributing meth in Great Falls in 2006 and 2007 and that Longtin assisted her husband. Cordell made at least six trips to California to pick up loads of meth, and that Longtin, at one point, traveled to California to get meth for redistribution. Cordell received at least six pounds of meth from a California supplier. Six pounds of meth is the equivalent of about 21,744 doses. Ultimately, eight other defendants pleaded guilty to their involvement in the overall drug conspiracy.
After their initial arrest at their home in Alta, Wyoming, in June 2007, the couple made an initial appearance on an indictment before a magistrate judge in Jackson, Wyoming. Cordell and Longtin were released on bonds on July 3, 2007 after a detention hearing and ordered to appear in U.S. District Court in Great Falls on Aug. 14, 2007.
Both Cordell and Longtin failed to appear. The couple remained fugitives until Jan. 17, 2019, when they were arrested in Tulsa, Oklahoma.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Jessica Betley prosecuted the case which was investigated by Homeland Security Investigations, Great Falls Police Department and the U.S. Marshals Service.
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.
Source: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of the United States Attorneys
