SALT LAKE CITY, Utah, May 22, 2024 (Gephardt Daily) — A Utah convicted felon was indicted by a federal grand jury in Salt Lake City Wednesday for multiple federal crimes after police detectives allegedly seized approximately 45 pounds of meth, 15,000 fentanyl pills, and two firearms from his home and from a storage unit associated with him.
According to court documents, on May 9, Murray resident Anthony Owen Pawley, 65, was stopped for a traffic violation by detectives assigned to the Salt Lake City Police Department’s Violent Criminal Apprehension Team, according to a news release issued by the Department of Justice, U.S. Attorney’s Office, District of Utah..
During the traffic stop, a canine officer alerted to narcotics. While searching the vehicle, detectives found five pounds of suspected methamphetamine and several hundred blue pressed pills suspected to contain fentanyl. During the investigation, detectives also found approximately 40 pounds of field tested and confirmed methamphetamine and approximately 15,000 fentanyl pills, along with two firearms at his residence and at a storage unit in Murray associated with Pawley.
Pawley is charged with possession of methamphetamine with intent to distribute, possession of fentanyl with the intent to distribute, and felon in possession of a firearm. His initial court appearance on the indictment is scheduled for May 24, 2024, at 10:30 a.m. in courtroom 8.4 before a U.S. Magistrate Judge at the United States District Courthouse in downtown Salt Lake City.
U.S. Attorney, Trina A. Higgins, of the District of Utah and the SLCPD made the announcement.
The case is being investigated by the Salt Lake City Police Department and the Bureau of Alcohol Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives (ATF).
Assistant United States Attorney Cameron P. Warner of the U.S. Attorney’s Office for the District of Utah is prosecuting the case.
