Dutch man sentenced to 20 years for role in Montana fentanyl ring

A man from the Netherlands who pleaded guilty to trafficking over 10 kilograms of fentanyl into states including Montana was sentenced Monday to 20 years in prison followed by five years of supervised release, according to the U.S. Attorney's Office.

Gerad Nigel Punch, 40, was arrested in late 2024 after selling over 2,000 grams of fentanyl in 20,000 pills to an undercover cop in Butte, according to the press release. Federal investigators arrested and charged 13 other people in connection with Punch's drug ring. Punch pleaded guilty without a plea deal in October 2025 to possession with intent to distribute fentanyl and conspiracy to commit money laundering.

Punch was sentenced by U.S. District Court Judge Dana Christensen.

“This investigation successfully dismantled a major drug trafficking and money laundering organization responsible for moving over 300,000 fentanyl pills into Montana in 2024 before they were arrested,” said Homeland Security Investigations (HSI) agent Charles Engle in the release. “HSI would like to thank all of its investigative partners for the outstanding work. The collaborative investigation led to charges against 14 defendants, making a significant impact on Montana and its communities.”

According to court documents, Punch primarily lived in the Netherlands and coordinated drug shipments from Arizona to Montana, Texas and Washington. He either distributed the drugs directly to local traffickers or arranged for other people to sell them.

Punch had a prior conviction and imprisonment for negligent homicide in Arizona in 2013, according to court documents. In that case, he was involved in trafficking undocumented immigrants across the Mexican border, and one person died of overheating in a U-Haul used for that purpose.

Of the 13 other defendants in this case, 12 have either pleaded guilty to one or more charges or entered a plea agreement. The final defendant, Grant Kopp, died in the Missoula County Detention Facility in May 2025. He pleaded not guilty at his arraignment, and his charges were dismissed after his death. An inquest in January found no foul play in his death.