An Evanston man was sentenced to 14 years in federal prison for distribution of fentanyl and conspiracy to distribute fentanyl. The judgement in the case of United States of America v. Brady Joseph Ehlers was filed in federal court last week.

The sentencing was announced on Wednesday, June 4, by the United State’s Attorney’s Office for the District of Wyoming. Ehlers, 35, was facing up to life in prison for the crimes, but entered into a plea deal that also includes five years of supervised probation.

According to court documents, U.S. Drug Enforcement Administration task force officers began investigating Ehlers in September 2024. They interviewed several subjects “who all stated they were buying fentanyl from Ehlers and/or AH.” The initials AH refer to Ashley Nichole Haberman, 40, though only her initials are used throughout the affidavit.

Multiple sources told investigators that Ehlers and Aaberman “would travel to Denver together where they would buy large quantities of fentanyl that the two of them would then bring back to Cheyenne and sell.”

The stakeout

On Oct. 16, 2024, at about 7:21 p.m., task force officers surveilled Ehlers and Haberman as they drove south to Thornton, Colorado. While watching the two, officers watched as they met with a woman, “whom Ehlers and AH had been seen meeting with before,” in a parking lot of a Thornton business.

Officers saw Ehlers get into the woman’s car and then back into his vehicle after approximately one minute, court documents state.

About an hour later, officers followed Ehlers to a Walgreens parking lot in Denver, where he exited his car and got into the passenger seat of a white Toyota for approximately two minutes.

“Ehlers then got back into the GMC Acadia with AH and they drove back to Cheyenne … and parked at a hotel the two had been staying at the last few days,” a sworn affidavit reads.

At approximately 11:20 p.m. that same night, Cheyenne police officers and task force members approached Ehlers as he was still sitting in his vehicle in the hotel parking lot.

The arrest

“Ehlers was placed under arrest and had a small black zipper bag in his lap that fell to the floor, as well as a metal ‘tooter’ straw and a propane torch,” the complaint states.

Investigators said they found several drugs while processing the scene. Ehlers had 2.97 grams of heroin on him, court documents state, and inside the black zipper black investigators found 22.06 grams of fentanyl pills.

Another container under the driver’s seat had even more — 35.10 grams of fentanyl pills. Officers said they also found 2.64 grams of methamphetamine in the back of the vehicle.

The following day, officers served a search warrant on the room where Ehlers and AH were staying, where they found even more fentanyl — 18.39 grams and “several loose fentanyl pills in the room” — along with personal items belonging to Ehlers and Haberman.

Task force officers seized 75.55 grams of fentanyl — equating to hundreds of pills — during the investigation, which is far beyond a “user amount” of the powerful synthetic opioid, “and is consistent with amounts possessed by individuals involved in distribution,” the affidavit states. For context, as little as 2 milligrams of fentanyl can be lethal.

In all, Ehlers was facing 10 years to life in prison for the two charges. He also faced up to $11 million in fines, up to lifetime probation and $200 in special assessments.

U.S. District Judge Alan B. Johnson sentenced Ehlers to 168 months’ imprisonment, $5,992.40 to be paid in restitution, and five years of supervised release. He also must not purchase, use or possess alcohol/intoxicants or frequent places where they are sold while on probation and submit to random drug testing.

Probation also requires Ehlers to undergo cognitive/behavioral treatment, and the court recommended he participate in the Bureau of Prison’s 500-hour Residential Drug Treatment Program. The court also recommended Ehlers serve his time at FCI Sandstone, a federal prison in Minnesota.

Part of a large drug ring

Ehler’s arrest was part of “a 15-month-long investigation into a multi-state drug ring operation,” according to ABC Denver (denver7.com). “Dubbed Operation Shattered Glass, the investigation involved several agencies” from Wyoming and Colorado.

At least 32 suspects were arrested, and the report said that, throughout the investigation, officers served 45 search warrants that led to the seizure of 604 grams of methamphetamine, 64 grams of heroin, 4 grams of cocaine and a staggering 16,000 fentanyl pills.

According to a May 14 report from the National Center for Health Statistics, an estimated 48,422 people in America died from fentanyl in 2024, though that was a sharp decline from 2023, which was estimated to have 76,282 fentanyl deaths.