Great Falls man sentenced on federal drug charges
A convicted felon from Great Falls who possessed guns and drugs was sentenced April 10 to 128 months in prison to be followed by five years of supervised release, U.S. Attorney Kurt Alme said.
Michael Shawn O’Neill, 59, pleaded guilty in December 2024 to possession with intent to distribute controlled substances.
Chief U.S. District Judge Brian Morris presided.
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Prosecutors alleged that on Sept. 4, 2023, O’Neill, a convicted felon on state supervision, possessed thousands of fentanyl pills for redistribution, as well as four firearms and some methamphetamine and heroin, according to court documents.
The guns and drugs were found during a probation search and the subsequent execution of a search warrant in Great Falls.
On Sept. 14, 2023, O’Neill told interviewing agents that there was no one above him in the Great Falls area. He drove to Spokane to get his supply and he believed he was one step away from the cartel through a third party.
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He distributed drugs to smaller users who purchased less than 100 pills at a time. O’Neill said he just spent $12,000 in Spokane on the drugs found on Sept. 4, 2023, and told agents: “I was moving about 500-800 pills a day, plus an ounce of heroin, plus an ounce of meth – I wasn’t moving that much,” according to court documents.
The U.S. Attorney’s Office prosecuted the case and the investigation was conducted by the ATF, Russell Country Drug Task Force, and Montana Probation and Parole.
This case is part of Project Safe Neighborhoods, a program bringing together all levels of law enforcement and the communities they serve to reduce violent crime and gun violence, and to make neighborhoods safer for everyone.
On May 26, 2021, the U.S. Department of Justice launched a strategy to reduce crime based on fostering trust and legitimacy in communities, supporting community-based organizations that help prevent violence from occurring in the first place, setting focused and strategic enforcement priorities and measuring the results.
