Wendell Dean Kopp Found Guilty in U.S. Federal Court
| U.S. Attorney’s Office June 08, 2010 |
The United States Attorney’s Office announced that on June 8, 2010, in Billings, after a two-day federal district court trial before Chief U.S. District Judge Richard F. Cebull, WENDELL DEAN KOPP, a resident of Billings, was found guilty of conspiracy to possess with the intent to distribute/distribution of methamphetamine, possession with the intent to distribute methamphetamine, and two counts of the use or possession of a firearm during a drug-trafficking crime or in furtherance of a drug-trafficking crime. Sentencing is set for September 8, 2010. He is currently detained.
Assistant U.S. Attorney James E. Seykora prosecuted the case for the United States.
KOPP faces possible penalties of life in prison, an $8,000,000 fine, and 10 years' supervised release on each drug charge. In addition, KOPP faces an additional mandatory five-year term of imprisonment, consecutive to any other sentence, for the first count of use or possession of a firearm during a drug-trafficking crime or in furtherance of a drug-trafficking; and an additional mandatory 25-year imprisonment, consecutive to any other sentence for the second count of use or possession of a firearm during a drug-trafficking crime or in furtherance of a drug-trafficking.
The investigation was conducted by the Billings Big Sky Safe Streets Task Force.