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Date: 04-12-2023
Case Style:
Case Number: 2:22-CR-01
Judge: Hala Y. Jarbou
Court: United States District Court for the Western District of Michigan (Marquette County)
Plaintiff's Attorney: United States Attorney’s Office in Marquette
Defendant's Attorney:
Description: Marquette, Michigan criminal defense lawyer represented Defendant who was charged with drug trafficking.
Between March and December 2021, Elizabeth Jean Decota, a/k/a "Biz," and others brought significant quantities of methamphetamine, heroin, and fentanyl from Detroit and distributed those drugs throughout the western half of the Upper Peninsula. The conspirators based their operations on the Hannahville Indian Community and the Keweenaw Bay Indian Community, distributing significant quantities of methamphetamine to those communities.
“Drug-related activity in the L’Anse Indian and Hannahville Reservations contribute to violent crime and imposes serious health and economic difficulties to Tribal communities. These sentences help send a message that drug use and trafficking has no place on the Reservations,” said Jerin Falcon, Deputy Associate Director, Bureau of Indian Affairs, Office of Justice Services, Division of Drug Enforcement.
“The cooperation between local, state, tribal, and federal law enforcement has once again proven effective,” said Drug Enforcement Administration Detroit Field Division Special Agent in Charge Orville O. Greene. “This indictment should put drug traffickers on notice that we will use whatever resources necessary to remove them, and the poisons they peddle, from our communities.”
The defendants and their respective prison sentences are as follows:
Name
Sentence
Tyler Allen Smith, also known as “Ty Ty,” a/k/a “Ty”
158 months
Jason Earl Arnold
120 months
Jill Elizabeth Roberts
136 months
John Paul Decota, Jr., also known as “Bub”
64 months
Elizabeth Jean Decota, also known as “Biz”
51 months
Clifford Keith Durant, Jr.
90 months
Shanna Marie Decota
52 months
Peggy Sue Swartz
46 months
Allyson Marie Denomie
41 months
Alexander Brandon Sagataw
46 months
After serving their terms of imprisonment, the defendants will be on supervised release for several years.
The Bureau of Indian Affairs; the Drug Enforcement Administration; Upper Peninsula Substance Enforcement Team; Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives; FBI – Safe Trails Task Force; Michigan State Police; Delta County Sheriff’s Office; Hannahville Tribal Police Department; Keweenaw Bay Indian Community Tribal Police; and Troy Police Department investigated the case.
21:846, 21:841(a)(1), 21:841(b)(1)(A)(viii), 21:841(b)(1)(C), 21:851 CONSPIRACY TO DISTRIBUTE CONTROLLED SUBSTANCE; conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute methamphetamine
(1)
Outcome: Defendant was sentenced to 51 months imprisonment, 3 years supervised release, $1,000 fine, $100 special assessment
Plaintiff's Experts:
Defendant's Experts:
Comments: