MISSOULA, Mont. (AP) — A man who previously served time for kidnapping a world-class biathlete in the 1980s is heading back to prison, this time on a drug charge.
U.S. District Judge Donald Molloy sentenced Dan Nichols on Thursday to four years in federal prison.
Nichols provided security for Montana Cannabis, a medical marijuana operation that was raided in a 2011 federal crackdown on large dispensaries.
Nichols pleaded guilty to conspiracy to maintain a drug-involved premises. Prosecutors cited his violent history in asking for a sentence of just under six years.
Nichols was the younger half of a father-son duo dubbed "The Mountain Men" who kidnapped biathlete Kari Swenson in 1984.
His father, Don Nichols, killed a man who tried to rescue her, while Dan Nichols accidently shot Swenson. She survived.
