The final defendant in a multistate fentanyl trafficking case was sentenced to prison time Thursday.
Butte resident Adam Joseph Sarvis, 47, was one of 13 defendants in the case. He pleaded guilty in March to one count of conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute fentanyl, according to the U.S. Attorney for Montana. Sarvis was sentenced to two years in prison followed by five years of supervised release.
Sarvis was part of a larger drug trafficking ring led by Gerad Nigel Punch that mailed and transported fentanyl from Phoenix to Montana, Washington and Texas to distribute.
Law enforcement seized more than 10 kilograms of fentanyl during the investigation into the trafficking ring. The other 12 defendants were sentenced to prison terms ranging from 32 months to 136 months.
Two other Butte-area defendants — Zane Nicholas Schafer, 35, and Spring Marie Davis, 50 — were sentenced earlier this year. Schafer and Davis were both sentenced to 32 months.
Assistant U.S. Attorneys Brian Lowney and Zeno Baucus prosecuted the case as part of Operation Take Back America, a nationwide immigration and cartel crackdown effort. Homeland Security Investigations, the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, the IRS Criminal Investigation Division and the Montana Division of Criminal Investigation conducted the investigation.
"This case reflects the value of coordinated enforcement and intelligence-driven investigations, and we are proud of the work of our Special Agents, and all of our law enforcement partners who helped bring these defendants to justice," said Homeland Security Investigations Resident Agent in Char Joseph E. Montbriand.
Joseph Beaudet has covered crime, courts and local government for The Montana Standard since August 2026 after reporting on government and politics for three and a half years in Wyoming. Reach them at joseph.beaudet@mtstandard.com.
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