Great Falls Resident Sentenced for Drug and Money Laundering

Photo courtesy of U.S. Department of Justice Daniel Allen Wakeford, a resident of Great Falls, has been sentenced to 240 months in prison, followed by five years of supervised release, for his involvement in the distribution of substantial quantities of methamphetamine. Mr. Wakeford, aged 61, entered a guilty plea in October 2024 to charges of conspiracy to distribute and possess methamphetamine with the intent to distribute, as well as one count of money laundering. The Honorable Chief U.S. District Judge Brian M. Morris presided over the proceedings. Court documents indicated that law enforcement agencies uncovered evidence demonstrating that Mr. Wakeford had engaged in methamphetamine distribution activities over several years, both in Great Falls and other locations. Testimony from a witness revealed that they had been obtaining methamphetamine from Mr. Wakeford for resale purposes since 2020, with an estimated two pounds received prior to 2021 and approximately five pounds supplied in March 2021. This account was substantiated by surveillance conducted by law enforcement officials. Law enforcement spoke with numerous individuals who received methamphetamine from Wakeford between approximately 2020 and 2024. Those individuals gave information on how Wakeford and others would provide them with methamphetamine for resale. In February 2024, an individual, referred to as John Doe, was apprehended in Billings, Montana, while in possession of approximately 78 grams of methamphetamine. He provided critical information on how, among other things, he had recently assisted Wakeford with packaging several hundred thousand dollars in cash, how John Doe received the methamphetamine from Wakeford in Great Falls, and that Wakeford made statements indicating he was conspiring to distribute a significant amount of methamphetamine. Law enforcement determined that Wakeford lacked any significant legitimate sources of income; however, he made a noteworthy cash purchase of a 2022 snowmobile for $16,534 in November 2022. Following an initial indictment, law enforcement officials executed a search warrant at Wakeford’s residence in Great Falls, where they discovered documentation related to a storage unit he leased in Phoenix, Arizona. Wakeford was apprehended in Utah on a federal warrant while driving a motorhome valued in excess of $40,000, during which over $62,000 in cash and additional paperwork related to the storage unit were located. A federal search warrant for the Phoenix storage unit yielded over 100 pounds of methamphetamine, along with a firearm. The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Zeno Baucus and Jeff Starnes, and the investigation was conducted by the Russell Country Drug Task Force under the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETF). The OCDETF program is designed to identify, disrupt, and dismantle high-level criminal organizations that pose a threat to the United States through a comprehensive, prosecutor-led, intelligence-driven, multi-agency strategy. For more information about Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces, please visit Justice.gov/OCDETF. Photo courtesy of U.S. Department of Justice