Two Missoula methamphetamine traffickers sentenced to prison

MISSOULA — Two Missoula women convicted in a large methamphetamine trafficking ring involving pounds of the drug each were sentenced today to prison terms, Acting U.S. Attorney Leif M. Johnson said.

Laura Jeanne Haacke, 46, was sentenced to 54 months in prison to be followed by five years of supervised release. Haacke pleaded guilty in May to possession with intent to distribute meth.

Jennifer Renee Hawkes, 40, was sentenced to 63 months in prison to be followed by five years of supervised release. Hawkes pleaded guilty in May to possession with intent to distribute meth.

U.S. District Judge Donald W. Molloy presided. Hawkes’s detention was continued and Haacke’s release was continued.

According to court documents, the government alleged that Haacke, Hawkes, and co-defendants, Jason Dean Hager, of Lolo, and Terry David Starrett, of Missoula, conspired to distribute meth in Missoula from January 2018 through January 2021. Starrett and Hager each pleaded guilty to possession with intent to distribute meth and are pending sentencing.

Officers learned through confidential informants that Haacke stored meth for her co-defendant Starrett in a trap floor at her residence. When interviewed by law enforcement, Haacke admitted that she used meth and that in February 2019, she stored numerous pounds of meth at her residence.

The government further alleged that in July 2019, Hawkes supplied a person with about two ounces of meth. After the transaction, law enforcement executed a search warrant at Hawkes’s residence and recovered an additional three pounds of meth.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Tara J. Elliott is prosecuting the case, which was investigated by the FBI’s Montana Regional Violent Crime Task Force, Missoula Police Department, and Missoula County Sheriff’s Office.

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