BILLINGS — A Lodge Grass man who admitted to dealing methamphetamine from his home on the Crow Indian Reservation after individuals confirmed to Drug Enforcement Administration agents that he had been trafficking meth for a number of years was sentenced today to five years in prison, to be followed by five years of supervised release, U.S. Attorney Leif M. Johnson said.
Robert Roswald Redfield, 48, pleaded guilty in September 2021 to conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute meth.
U.S. District Judge Susan P. Watters presided. Judge Watters also ordered the forfeiture of approximately 146 firearms and about $30,000 in cash seized from Redfield’s residence.
In court documents, the government alleged that in February 2020, law enforcement with Big Horn County, with assistance of the Bureau of Indian Affairs, had information that a state escapee from the Three Rivers detention facility in Hardin was hiding out in the home of Redfield and co-defendant Krystal Firebear. Officers did not find the fugitive, but saw in plain view drugs, money and guns. After obtaining a tribal search warrant, officers seized more than 90 firearms, eight grams of meth and more than $30,000 in cash. DEA agents interviewed a number of individuals who confirmed that Redfield was a meth distributor and had been for a number of years. While executing another search warrant at Redfield’s residence about a year later, agents seized about 15 grams of meth and 56 guns. Previously, Firebear was sentenced to probation for conviction in the case of being an unlawful drug user in possession of a firearm.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Lori Harper Suek prosecuted the case, which was investigated by the DEA and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.
This case is part of Project Safe Neighborhoods, a U.S. Department of Justice initiative to reduce violent crime. Through PSN, federal, tribal, state and local law enforcement partners in Montana focus on violent crime driven by methamphetamine trafficking, armed robbers, firearms offenses and violent offenders with outstanding warrants.
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