Missoula Crime Report: One Defendant Sold Fentanyl to Teenagers

The Missoula County Attorney’s Office filed 18 new criminal complaints this week, which is four more than last week. According to County Attorney Kirsten Pabst, a majority of these new cases involve violent crimes and crimes against persons.

“We charged a couple strangulation cases,” Pabst said. “In one, the defendant allegedly approached the child in a motel room, woke her, and then allegedly strangled her. There was a robbery and an aggravated assault. The defendant allegedly pulled his companion out of a vehicle, and injured his face and head. The defendant allegedly kicked the victim and stole his wallet. The victim lost multiple teeth and had significant injuries in that case.”

Pabst said there was one intimidation case that garnered a lot of attention.

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“In that case, the FBI intercepted an Instagram message from the defendant discussing a school shooting here locally,” Pabst said. “The defendant allegedly made references to the Sandy Hook shooter and had access to weapons, causing some pretty heightened concerns amongst our law enforcement partners as well as our community.”

There was one assault with a weapon case in which the defendant was yelling and causing a scene in a casino.

“An employee asked her to leave and then she allegedly pulled out a knife,” Pabst said. “She was forced to leave and was later located by law enforcement with methamphetamine on her person. We also charged two theft cases. In one of those, the defendant allegedly stole her mother’s car. In the other, through the years 2020 and 2021, a marijuana dispensary was duped out of about one million dollars, allegedly intended for its taxes.”

In addition, Pabst said her office charged three new drug cases. One case involved criminal distribution of dangerous drugs.

“The allegation is that the defendant was selling fentanyl laced with fake percocets to teenagers along with cocaine and some other hard party drugs,” Pabst said. “The defendant allegedly sold pills to three people at a party and one died of an overdose. Two others were hospitalized.”

Finally, there were three new felony DUI cases, which is a fourth or subsequent offense. They also charged one fugitive from justice and two cases involving allegations of bail jumping.

You can listen to Pabst's full report below: