Billings drug trafficker caught with four pounds of meth sentenced to 10 years in prison

BILLINGS — A Billings man who admitted to trafficking methamphetamine after getting caught with four pounds of meth was sentenced on Jan. 25 to 10 years in prison, to be followed by four years of supervised release, U.S. Attorney Jesse Laslovich said today.

 Gary Michael Byrd, 52, pleaded guilty in August 2023 to a superseding information charging him with possession with intent to distribute controlled substances.

U.S. District Judge Susan P. Watters presided.

The government alleged in court documents that in 2023, the Billings Police Department received information that Byrd was trafficking meth from his residence. Law enforcement pulled over Byrd and arrested him on an outstanding warrant. During a search, officers found more than $5,600 cash in his pocket. Officers executed a search warrant at a workshop where Byrd was suspected of storing drugs and recovered approximately four pounds of meth from a toolbox. Four pounds of meth is the equivalent of 14,496 doses.

The U.S. Attorney’s Office prosecuted the case. The Billings Police Department, Drug Enforcement Administration and Eastern Montana High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area Task Force conducted the 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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