Strider Lee Moore Pleads Guilty in U.S. Federal Court
| U.S. Attorney’s Office October 06, 2009 |
Bill Mercer, United States Attorney for the District of Montana, announced today that during a federal court session in Missoula on October 6, 2009, before U.S. Magistrate Judge Jeremiah C. Lynch, STRIDER LEE MOORE, a 20-year-old resident of Bozeman, pled guilty to distribution of cocaine. Sentencing is set for January 15, 2010. He is currently released on special conditions.
In an Offer of Proof filed by Assistant U.S. Attorney Timothy J. Racicot, the government stated it would have proved at trial the following:
In August 2006, the Missouri River Drug Task Force and the FBI began investigating two cocaine-trafficking organizations in the Bozeman area. Several individuals were investigated, charged, and convicted of conspiracy to distribute cocaine and distribution of cocaine. Some of those individuals cooperated with the ongoing investigation. One such individual was R.G. R.G. admitted to distributing a substantial quantity of cocaine in Bozeman from the summer of 2005 until the spring of 2007. He told law enforcement during interviews on May 11 and 29, 2007, that he personally supplied MOORE with 8-balls and ounces of cocaine. The most he gave MOORE at one time was two ounces.
In an attempt to corroborate the information received from R.G. and others, law enforcement officers interviewed several low-level cocaine users and dealers in and around Bozeman. During one interview, D.J. told law enforcement that in approximately January 2004, he began buying 8-balls of cocaine from MOORE on a daily basis. D.J. bought the cocaine for both personal use and to distribute to others. He sometimes purchased up to three 8-balls per day from MOORE, and sometimes went a few days without buying any, depending on the demands of his customers. D.J. stopped getting cocaine from MOORE in April 2004, but started buying from him again in approximately July of 2005, again buying one to three 8-balls per day. D.J. continued to get cocaine from MOORE until the summer of 2006.
R.L. and Z.H. also bought cocaine from MOORE, beginning in approximately March 2004. R.L. bought between one and three 8-balls from MOORE per week until December 2004. Z.H. told law enforcement that he got grams or 8-balls from MOORE three or four times per week for 18 months. He bought from MOORE at MOORE'S residence in Bozeman. Z.H. described a coffee table with a removable panel, which MOORE used to store the cocaine he sold to Z.H. During a probation search of MOORE'S residence in February 2009, officers found one 8-ball of cocaine, a small amount of marijuana, and a pill bottle with MOORE'S name on it, all in a compartment in a coffee table.
STRIDER faces possible penalties of 20 years in prison, a $250,000 fine, and three years' supervised release.
The investigation was a cooperative effort between the Missouri River Drug Task Force and the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
A copy of the Offer of Proof can be obtained by contacting Sally Frank at (406) 247-4638.