California man sentenced for trafficking oxycodone on Rocky Boys Reservation

From U.S. Attorney for the District of Montana

GREAT FALLS—A California man who admitted supplying prescription pain pills for distribution on the Rocky Boys Indian Reservation was sentenced on April 18 to 92 months in prison and to three years of supervised release, U.S. Attorney Kurt Alme said.

Devon Draper, 45, of Los Angeles, Calif., pleaded guilty earlier to conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute oxycodone and to conspiracy to commit money laundering.

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

Prosecutors presented evidence of a conspiracy to traffic oxycodone pills on the Rocky Boys Reservation that occurred in 2017 and 2018. In September 2017, Draper and co-defendant, Isaiah Standingrock, were pulled over in a vehicle on the reservation. During a consent search, law enforcement found $22,500 in cash. Officers seized Draper’s phone, got a search warrant for its contents and found information that showed extensive conversations between Draper and Standingrock about the sale of oxycodone on the reservation.

As part of the investigation, Standingrock told investigators in July 2018 that Draper had come to the reservation eight to 10 times since December 2017, had provided about 2,500 prescription pills during that period and had just flown to Los Angeles with about $15,000.  Agents arrested Draper at the Los Angeles airport and seized $14,141 from his bag, including $470 in marked funds from the investigation.

Standingrock pleaded guilty in the case and is awaiting sentencing. A third defendant, Charly McLain Rosette, was sentenced to three years in prison and to three years of supervised release.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Brendan McCarthy prosecuted the case, which was investigated by the Drug Enforcement Administration and the Tri-Agency Task Force.

The case is part of Project Safe Neighborhoods, which is the centerpiece of the Department of Justice’s violent crime reduction efforts.  PSN is an evidence-based program proven to be effective at reducing violent crime. Through PSN, a broad spectrum of stakeholders work together to identify the most pressing violent crime problems in the community and develop comprehensive solutions to address them. As part of this strategy, PSN focuses enforcement efforts on the most violent offenders and partners with locally based prevention and reentry programs for lasting reductions in crime.