Billings man caught with 10 pounds of meth in vehicle sentenced to five years in prison

DOJ Press

BILLINGS  — A Billings man who admitted to trafficking drugs after he broke into the Drug Enforcement Administration’s building to see if agents had found the 10 pounds of meth hidden in his truck was sentenced today to five years in prison, to be followed by five years of supervised release, U.S. Attorney Jesse Laslovich said.

Anthony Jacob Johnson, 43, pleaded guilty in April to possession with intent to distribute meth.

U.S. District Judge Dana L. Christensen presided.

In court documents, the government alleged that in January 2021, an investigation into methamphetamine distributing led to Johnson as a source of supply. Agents determined that Johnson traveled to Colorado in March and again in April 2021. Upon Johnson’s return to Montana, a Montana Highway Patrol trooper conducted a traffic stop of Johnson’s vehicle. Agents executed a search warrant on the vehicle and located 10 vacuumed sealed bricks of meth. The bricks totaled approximately 10.39 pounds of meth, which is the equivalent of about 37,653 doses. In the early morning, the DEA discovered a large hole in a garage door at its facility. Evidence showed that Johnson had gone to the facility the night before, cut a large hole in the garage and entered his seized vehicle while it was in DEA’s custody, hoping agents had not located the meth. Johnson admitted he distributed approximately 80 pounds to 100 pounds of meth in the community over five months.


Assistant U.S. Attorney Julie R. Patten prosecuted the case, which was investigated by the DEA and Montana Division of Criminal Investigation.


This case is part of Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN), a program bringing together all levels of law enforcement and the communities they serve to reduce violent crime and gun violence, and to make our neighborhoods safer for everyone. On May 26, 2021, the Department launched a violent crime reduction strategy strengthening PSN based on these core principles: fostering trust and legitimacy in our communities, supporting community-based organizations that help prevent violence from occurring in the first place, setting focused and strategic enforcement priorities, and measuring the results.

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