Poplar woman sentenced to more than five years in prison for trafficking meth on Fort Peck Indian Reservation; customer died after taking the drug

GREAT FALLS  — A Poplar woman was sentenced today to five years and four months in prison, to be followed by three years of supervised release, after she admitted to a methamphetamine trafficking crime in which a customer died shortly after taking the drug, U.S. Attorney Jesse Laslovich said.

Danyell Rose Black Dog, 23, pleaded guilty in May to possession with intent to distribute meth.

Chief U.S. District Judge Brian M. Morris presided.

The government alleged in court documents that on Aug. 27, 2021, Fort Peck Tribes law enforcement officers responded to a 911 medical call regarding a woman identified as Jane Doe. Doe was unresponsive and officers began CPR. Family members told officers at the scene that Doe had used meth prior to the 911 call. Emergency medical responders arrived and transported Doe to the hospital, where she was pronounced dead.

The government further alleged the investigation determined that Doe would buy $5 or $10 worth of meth from Black Dog on a regular basis, and that Black Dog had sold to Doe two to three times a week. Black Dog sent text information to another individual in which she said she was on her way to sell Doe meth approximately 30 minutes before the incident and how she sold and delivered it to Doe. An autopsy of Doe conducted by the Montana state medical examiner listed the cause of death as methamphetamine toxicity.

The U.S. Attorney’s Office prosecuted the case. The FBI and Fort Peck Tribes Department of Law and Justice conducted the investigation.

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