Jail, prison, bars

MISSOULA, Mont. — A multijurisdictional operation launched in 2023 successfully dismantled an international drug smuggling ring that funneled fentanyl from the Netherlands and Mexico into Montana, Washington, Arizona, and Texas, U.S. Attorney’s Office, District of Montana said in a release.

According to Acting U.S. Attorney Mark Steger Smith, Gerad Punch, 41, a U.S. citizen living in the Netherlands, ran the operation. Smith said Bernard Cowley Glass Jr., 39, of Phoenix, helped move the drugs.

Punch was sentenced in February 2026 to 20 years in prison. Glass was sentenced last month to 15 years in prison.

Smith confirmed the last of 13 defendants, Adam Jospeh Sarvis, 47, of Butte, was sentenced to two years in prison followed by five years of supervised release. Sarvis pleaded guilty in March 2026 to conspiracy to distribute and possess with intent to distribute fentanyl.

Investigators first learned about the operation in October 2023 after a source reported that someone using the name Jeremy Holbrook was bringing large amounts of fentanyl pills into Butte. Agents later determined that name was an alias used by Punch in Montana.

The source told investigators a package was expected in Helena, which led postal inspectors to start tracking shipments sent to Montana. At the same time, inspectors in Arizona were investigating packages Bernard Glass mailed to Texas and authorities determined the two men were working together.

Court records alleged Punch expanded into Montana after a Washington dealer connected him to Brooke Cardonia, who had ties in western Montana through defendant Sadie Sawyer. Investigators said Punch and Glass regularly traveled to Montana as the operation grew while agents tracked travel, packages, finances and payment systems.

By fall 2024, investigators had identified more than a dozen co-conspirators and mapped the group’s finances, according to officials. Punch was charged and arrested in March 2025 after returning to the United States from the Netherlands.

“DOJ and its law enforcement partners are committed to the destruction of these networks and poisons they seek to bring to Montana,” said Smith. “I want to commend the exemplary work of the HSTF, including agents and officers from Homeland Security Investigations, IRS Criminal Investigation, the United States Postal Inspection Service and the Montana Division of Criminal Investigation. I also applaud the exceptional work of the prosecution team led by Assistant U.S. Attorneys Brian Lowney and Zeno Baucus for the District of Montana. Our streets and our children are safer because of the HSTF’s efforts.” 

The 11 other defendants sentenced:

  • Carrie Jean Bishop, nine years

  • Brooke Rose Louise Cadonia, nine years

  • Freddie Lee Carter, 11 years and four months

  • Spring Marie Davis, two years and eight months

  • D’Andre Dontae Glass, four years

  • Diana Michelle Karnes, eight years

  • Dwayne Nyron Punch, 11 years and four months

  • Sadie Cheryl Sawyer, four years

  • Zane Nicholas Schafer, two years and eight months

  • Shawn Michael Scholler, three years and 10 months