Montana Couple Plead Guilty to Possession with Intent to Distribute Methamphetamine

POCATELLO – David Vance Taylor, 62, and Bambi Sue Tomlin, 54, of Billings, Montana, pleaded guilty yesterday to possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine, U.S. Attorney Wendy J. Olson announced.  Taylor and Tomlin were indicted by a federal grand jury in Pocatello on July 26, 2016.

According to the plea agreement, on June 7, 2016, Taylor and Tomlin were arrested in Bingham County by the Idaho State Police following a traffic stop.  During the stop, the officer smelled marijuana coming from the vehicle and conducted a search, discovering more than 800 grams of actual methamphetamine and 2 grams of marijuana in the vehicle.  Taylor and Tomlin admitted that they picked up the methamphetamine in Las Vegas and were transporting it through Idaho along Interstate 15 to be delivered to a third party in Billings, Montana.

As charged, possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine is punishable by at least ten years and up to life in prison, a maximum fine of $10,000,000, and at least five years of supervised release. 

Sentencing is set for January 4, 2017, before Chief U.S. District Judge B. Lynn Winmill at the federal courthouse in Pocatello.

The case was investigated by the Bingham County Prosecutor’s Office and the Idaho State Police.  It is being prosecuted by the Special Assistant U.S. Attorney hired by the Eastern Idaho Partnership and the State of Idaho to bolster ongoing efforts to prosecute regional drug trafficking, gun and gang violence, internet based crimes against children, and other serious crimes with a federal nexus.  The Eastern Idaho Partnership is a collaboration of elected officials and law enforcement from 12 counties and 18 cities across eastern Idaho, in partnership with the Idaho Department of Correction and the U.S. Attorney’s Office.