A 42-year-old Washington state man will spend nearly two decades in federal prison after being caught carrying fentanyl and a loaded handgun off a Greyhound bus at the Missoula station in early 2025. Tyreece Kingsley Dunbar, of Washington, was sentenced to 19 years following a guilty plea entered in January on drug trafficking and weapons charges.

Arrest at Missoula Bus Station

Dunbar was apprehended at the Missoula Greyhound Bus Station after traveling by bus from Seattle with approximately half a pound of fentanyl on his person. At the time of his arrest, he was wearing a face covering and body armor and carrying a loaded handgun with a round chambered.

He was taken into custody in March 2025 and later pleaded guilty in January 2026 to the drug and weapons offenses stemming from the incident.

Sentence and Supervised Release

A federal judge imposed a 19-year prison term on Dunbar. Upon release, he will face an additional five years of supervised release.

The case reflects ongoing federal efforts to pursue interstate drug trafficking routes feeding fentanyl into Montana communities. Federal prosecutors have increasingly targeted couriers using commercial transit — buses and trains — to move narcotics across state lines, a method that law enforcement says can be harder to detect than vehicle stops.

Montana’s Fentanyl Challenge

Montana has seen a sustained rise in fentanyl-related prosecutions and overdose deaths over the past several years. The drug, often transported from western hub cities like Seattle, enters the state through interstate corridors and has strained both law enforcement and public health resources across the region.

Governor Greg Gianforte’s administration has pointed to drug trafficking enforcement as a public safety priority, and Montana’s federal prosecutors have pursued stiff sentences in fentanyl cases as a deterrent. A 19-year sentence for a single courier arrest signals continued judicial willingness to impose substantial penalties in such cases.

Dunbar’s case will now move into the federal Bureau of Prisons system, with his supervised release terms to begin once his sentence is served.