Butte man sentenced to prison in large-scale meth, fentanyl ring

MISSOULA — A Butte man who admitted to distributing multiple pounds of methamphetamine and tens of thousands of fentanyl pills as part of large-scale trafficking ring was sentenced today to three years and six months in prison, to be followed by five years of supervised release, U.S. Attorney Jesse Laslovich said.

The defendant, Trevor Allen Handy, 27, pleaded guilty in September 2023 to conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute controlled substances.

U.S. District Judge Dana L. Christensen presided.

“Individuals like Mr. Handy continue to terrorize communities like Butte by transporting and mailing staggering quantities of illegal drugs and poisoning Montana citizens.  I’m grateful to our federal, state, and local law enforcement partners for their cooperation in this investigation and hope this sentence serves as a warning to people who think they can profit from this reprehensible conduct,” U.S. Attorney Laslovich said.

In court documents, the government alleged that in June 2022, law enforcement in Utah stopped a vehicle that contained approximately four pounds of meth, one pound of heroin and 6,000 pills containing fentanyl. The driver told law enforcement he was transporting the drugs to Butte for distribution by a drug trafficking organization headed by co-defendant Juan Felipe Vidrio Fuentes, aka “Esco.” Law enforcement determined that the co-conspirators would transport meth and fentanyl by driving the drugs from California to Montana and by mailing the pills. Law enforcement arrested Handy in January 2023 after the drug trafficking organization sent him a package of approximately 3,000 fentanyl pills for distribution in Butte. Handy admitted that he had received multiple packages of drugs sent to his residence on behalf of the drug organization for distribution by its members. Handy also admitted he had traveled by vehicle to California to pick up multiple pounds of meth and thousands of fentanyl pills and driven them back to Butte for distribution for the drug organization.

After Handy’s arrest, law enforcement searched two Butte addresses occupied by members of the drug organization and located multiple pounds of meth, more than 200 grams of fentanyl, approximately $17,500 in cash and seven firearms. Investigators seized a total of approximately 18 pounds of meth, which is the equivalent of about 65,232 doses, and approximately 4.85 pounds of fentanyl. The total amount of meth and fentanyl that Handy flooded into Butte is much higher, based on his admissions to previously distributing multiple pounds and tens of thousands of fentanyl pills that were not seized.

Co-defendants Fuentes, 36, of Anaheim, California; James Andrew Stringari, 51, of Whitehall; and Janet Dean White, 57, of Butte, were found guilty of conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute controlled substances and possession with intent to distribute controlled substances on April 25 in a federal jury trial and are awaiting sentencing. Four other co-defendants, Martin Topete Garcia, 32, his brother, Johnathan Topete, 28, both of Mira Loma, California; Anthony Wayne Johnson II, 51, of Santa Ana, California; and Agatha Noriz Carranza, 34, of Whitehall, pleaded guilty earlier to charges and are awaiting sentencing.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Brian C. Lowney prosecuted the case. The Montana Division of Criminal Investigation, Southwest Montana Drug Task Force, Montana Highway Patrol, Jefferson County Sheriff’s Office, Missouri River Drug Task Force, U.S. Postal Inspection Service, Homeland Security Investigations, Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, Drug Enforcement Administration, Utah Highway Patrol and Utah State Bureau of Investigations conducted the investigation.

The case was investigated under the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETF). OCDETF identifies, disrupts, and dismantles the highest-level criminal organizations that threaten the United States using a prosecutor-led, intelligence-driven, multi-agency approach. For more information about Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces, please visit Justice.gov/OCDETF.

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