GREAT FALLS — This is an official press release from the U.S. Department of Justice (Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA)), published as received.

GREAT FALLS — A Great Falls man who admitted to trafficking methamphetamine and fentanyl after his drug distribution led to the near-death of a toddler who ingested a fentanyl pill was sentenced today to 13 years in prison, to be followed by five years of supervised release, U.S. Attorney Jesse Laslovich said.

Shacotta Keenan St. Onge, 31, pleaded guilty in June 2023 to possession with intent to distribute controlled substances.

Chief U.S. District Judge Brian M. Morris presided.

In court documents, the government alleged that the Russell Country Drug Task Force received information in the fall of 2022, that St. Onge was distributing drugs in the Great Falls area. Law Enforcement obtained meth and fentanyl pills from St. Onge in controlled buys and in February 2023, officers executed a search warrant on St. Onge’s residence and recovered fentanyl pills and meth. In April 2023, St. Onge sold fentanyl to the mother of a two-year-old girl. The pills were scattered about the mother’s residence, and the child ingested a pill, leading to her hospitalization and near death.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Tara J. Elliott prosecuted the case. Homeland Security Investigations, the Russell Country Drug Task Force, the Great Falls Police Department and Drug Enforcement Administration conducted the investigation.

This case is part of Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN), a program bringing together all levels of law enforcement and the communities they serve to reduce violent crime and gun violence, and to make our neighborhoods safer for everyone. On May 26, 2021, the Department launched a violent crime reduction strategy strengthening PSN based on these core principles: fostering trust and legitimacy in our 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.

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