A Winnipeg man was handed a 20-year prison sentence in a U.S. federal court Thursday for his role in a drug operation.

Timothy Morneau, along with two Winnipeg teenagers, was arrested in February 2008 after a Montana state trooper stopped their car for a broken headlight. During the stop, officers found an estimated $5 million worth of ecstasy pills in the trunk.

In January, Morneau was convicted by a U.S. jury in Billings, Mont., of possession of the drugs with intent to distribute. Prosecutors said he was part of an operation in which he was promised $3,000 for smuggling the ecstasy from Winnipeg into the United States.

The co-accused, Alan Mulder and Christian Laurin, both of whom are now 20, were given four-year sentences earlier this year. They were also facing 20-year terms but cut a deal with prosecutors for their testimonies against Morneau.

Morneau has refused to divulge the identity of his supplier to prosecutors.