Five more defendants sentenced in large, multi-state, fentanyl distribution case

MISSOULA - Five more defendants in a 13-defendant case were sentenced yesterday and today for trafficking fentanyl from Arizona to Montana and other states, Acting U.S. Attorney Tim Racicot said.

On Monday, March 16, Sadie Cheryl Sawyer, 37, was sentenced to 48 months in prison and Zane Nicholas Schafer, 35, was sentenced to 30 months. Today, Carrie Jean Bishop, 52, Spring Marie Davis, 50, and Diana Michelle Karnes, 43, were also ordered to federal prison. Bishop received a term of 108 months, Davis 30, and Karnes 96.

All five defendants pleaded guilty to conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute fentanyl in November 2025 and Karnes also pleaded guilty to possession with intent to distribute fentanyl. They will each be on supervised release for five years after they serve their custodial sentences.

U.S. District Judge Dana L. Christensen presided over all five hearings.

The government alleged in court documents that between February 2023 and March 2025, the members of this drug trafficking organization (DTO), headed by Gerad Nigel Punch, transported fentanyl into Montana for distribution. Punch and the coconspirators mailed and transported fentanyl from Phoenix, Arizona, for distribution to local dealers in Texas, Washington, and Montana.

When the fentanyl arrived in Montana, Punch either directly distributed the drugs to local traffickers or arranged for other coconspirators to sell them. Sawyer worked as a local distributor in Montana, buying large quantities of fentanyl from Punch and suppliers in Arizona and delivering the drugs to local dealers. Schafer received at least four packages of fentanyl at his residence in Anaconda for distribution in the surrounding area. Bishop worked with Gerad Punch and others to transport fentanyl into Montana and distributed the drugs to other sellers and local users. Davis connected co-conspirators in Arizona and Montana and directly assisted Gerad Punch in selling over 2,000 grams of fentanyl to an undercover law enforcement officer in Butte in October 2024. Karnes distributed fentanyl in Montana and connected Gerad Punch to purchasers in Montana, in part for forgiveness of drug debts she owed the DTO.

During the investigation of this DTO, law enforcement seized over 10 kilograms of fentanyl. Gerad Punch was previously sentenced on February 23, 2026, to 240 months in prison, and Brooke Cardonia was sentenced on January 28, 2026, to 108 months. Co-defendants Shawn Michael Scholler and Adam Joseph Sarvis are scheduled to plead guilty this week and the remaining defendants, D'Andre Dontae Glass, Dwayne Nyron Punch, Freddie Lee Carter, and Bernard Cowley Glass, Jr. will be sentenced in June and July.

Assistant U.S. Attorneys Brian Lowney and Zeno Baucus are prosecuting the case. The investigation was conducted by Homeland Security Investigations, the U.S. Postal Inspection Service, the IRS Criminal Investigation Division, and the Southwest Montana Drug Task Force, which includes agents from the Montana Department of Justice Division of Criminal Investigation.

This case is part of Operation Take Back America, a nationwide initiative that marshals the full resources of the Department of Justice to repel the invasion of illegal immigration, achieve the total elimination of cartels and transnational criminal organizations (TCOs), and protect our communities from the perpetrators of violent crime. Operation Take Back America streamlines efforts and resources from the Department's Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETFs) and Project Safe Neighborhood (PSN).