Shannon Marie Leavitt, Drug Conspiracy, Montana 2016

Belgrade Woman Sentenced to 5 Years in Prison for Drug Offense

A 30-year-old woman from Belgrade, Montana, has been sentenced to 60 months in prison followed by four years supervised release after pleading guilty to conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute controlled substances.

Shannon Marie Leavitt, a resident of Belgrade, was sentenced by U.S. District Judge Dana Christensen on [No date mentioned in the source, likely February 2017, but we can't be sure].

According to court documents, investigators from the Missouri River Drug Task Force used a confidential informant to purchase methamphetamine from Leavitt in late September 2016 and again on October 3, 2016. The informant and Leavitt went to her father’s house to pick up the methamphetamine, and during that transaction, Leavitt told the informant that she was in business of dealing meth with her father.

Investigators also learned that methamphetamine was being shipped through the United States Mail to the Clarke/Leavitt address. They obtained a search warrant for the residence and found evidence of drug dealing, including a hollowed-out candle and a tennis ball containing 39.5 grams of methamphetamine.

Leavitt was interviewed after the search and admitted her role in the conspiracy, stating that she was getting an ounce of methamphetamine a week for the past month from her source in Salt Lake City.

Richard Clarke, Leavitt's father, has also pled guilty to his role in the drug conspiracy and is scheduled to be sentenced on February 21, 2017.

The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Bryan R. Whittaker and investigated by the Federal Bureau of Investigation, Gallatin County Sheriff’s Office, Bozeman Police Department, and the United States Postal Service.

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 through the Project Safe Neighborhoods program.

Source: https://www.justice.gov/usao-mt/pr/belgrade-woman-sentenced-5-years-prison-drug-offense