By Tina L. Scott
MMC Staff
MADISON – A Merrill man this week received a prison sentence of more than 11 years for trafficking methamphetamine.
TJ Myers, age 33, was sentenced to 137 months in federal prison for conspiracy to distribute 50 grams or more of methamphetamine, according to a release issued by Timothy O’Shea, U.S. Attorney for the Western District of Wisconsin.
Myers pleaded guilty to the charge on Jan. 26, 2022, and Chief U.S. District Judge James D. Peterson sentenced Myers on May 9, 2022.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Aaron Wegner handled the prosecution.
A co-defendant in the case, Levi Bagne, of Arizona, who was Myers’ methamphetamine source, according to the investigation, signed a plea agreement and appeared at a plea hearing before Judge Peterson on May 10, 2022.
According to the release, Myers was arrested as the result of a June 8, 2020, traffic stop by the Merrill Police Department. Myers was driving a Jeep Patriot and fled on foot after stopping the vehicle. A search of the Jeep revealed approximately 400 grams of methamphetamine inside the center console.
Myers was subsequently arrested. He had been out of prison for less than two months at the time of his arrest.
Peterson considered that timing an aggravating factor as he handed down the sentence, the release said.
“Judge Peterson described Myers’ criminal history as ‘unrelenting’ and noted his multiple felony convictions for methamphetamine trafficking,” the release said. “Judge Peterson also concluded that a substantial sentence was warranted because Myers played a significant role in a large-scale drug trafficking organization.”
The arrest and charge against Myers was the result of a joint investigation by the Central Wisconsin Narcotics Task Force, the Drug Enforcement Administration, the Lake Winnebago Area Metropolitan Unit, and the Merrill Police Department. The investigation was conducted and funded by the Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Force (OCDETF), a multi-agency task force that coordinates long-term narcotics trafficking investigations.