GREAT FALLS — A Box Elder man who admitted trafficking fentanyl on the Rocky Boy’s Indian Reservation after fleeing law enforcement in a vehicle in which officers found a firearm and fentanyl pills was sentenced today to one year and eight months in prison, to be followed by three years of supervised release, U.S. Attorney Jesse Laslovich said.
Paul Joseph The Boy, 33, pleaded guilty in July to possession with intent to distribute fentanyl.
Chief U.S. District Judge Brian M. Morris presided.
The government alleged in court documents that on Oct. 6, 2021, The Boy got into a high-speed chase with a Rocky Boy’s police officer. As The Boy fled while driving more than 100 mph, officers saw The Boy in possession of a firearm. The Boy then drove into an embankment and fled. Officers searched the abandoned vehicle and found 74 fentanyl pills, $1,171 in cash and a semi-automatic pistol. The Boy later acknowledged that he led law enforcement on a pursuit because he didn’t want to go to jail and that the pistol and fentanyl belonged to him.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Jessica A. Betley prosecuted the case, which was investigated by the FBI, Rocky Boy’s Police Department, Chippewa Cree Tribal Police Department, Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and Drug Enforcement Administration.
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