Sanchez faces federal drug charges
GREAT FALLS (AP) — A man who was convicted in the 2014 killing of a Cascade County sheriff's deputy has been indicted on federal drug and weapons charges.
Adam Sanchez Jr. pleaded not guilty Tuesday to a charge of possession and intent to distribute methamphetamine and to possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime.
The federal grand jury returned the indictment in December, but it was sealed until Sanchez's appearance in U.S. District Court in Great Falls.
PHOTO GALLERY: Adam Sanchez trial
Sanchez was sentenced in December to life in prison without parole for the death of 33-year-old Deputy Joe Dunn. A jury had convicted him of deliberate homicide in state court.
Dunn was killed when he was struck by a vehicle while deploying stop sticks during a high-speed chase on U.S. Highway 87/89.
Sanchez was also sentenced to serve 20 years in prison for assault with a weapon for steering his vehicle toward Great Falls police officer Rick Brinka on River Drive.
Sanchez will serve 10 years in prison for assault on a peace officer. He was convicted of punching Officer Clint Houston in the face and damaging the officer's front teeth during his apprehension. Sanchez was under the influence of methamphetamine, according to court statements and evidence presented at trial.
He was also sentenced to 10 years in prison for criminal endangerment for nearly hitting a vehicle with an infant inside and one year at the Cascade County Detention Center for misdemeanor negligent criminal endangerment for nearly striking another vehicle not long before his own car stalled. All of those sentences are to run concurrently, meaning Sanchez received a net sentence of 20 years along with the life without parole sentence.
Sanchez is currently serving a 20-year prison sentence without parole for a previous high-speed chase. The life sentence will run consecutive to that sentence.