Billings fentanyl trafficker sentenced to more than eight years in prison

BILLINGS  — A Billings man who admitted to trafficking fentanyl in the community after law enforcement found 9,500 fentanyl pills and a firearm in his vehicle was sentenced today to eight years and one month in prison, to be followed by three years of supervised release, U.S. Attorney Jesse Laslovich said.

Kyngsten Bargar, 30, pleaded guilty in September 2022 to possession with intent to distribute fentanyl.

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

The government alleged in court documents that in July 2021, law enforcement learned that Bargar was distributing fentanyl pills in the Billings area. The investigation determined that Bargar traveled to Washington to buy fentanyl, and in February 2022, the Montana Highway Patrol conducted a traffic stop east of Reed Point of a vehicle driven by Bargar. During a search of the vehicle, officers found two firearms in a backpack and a safe that contained nine small bags of blue pills. An analysis determined the pills contained fentanyl. Agents estimated there were approximately 9,500 pills. The safe also contained a large amount of U.S. currency that had been bundled separately with rubber bands. One of the bundles contained a paper copy of Bargar’s Montana driver’s license. 

Assistant U.S. Attorney Colin M. Rubich prosecuted the case, which was investigated by the Eastern Montana High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area Task Force and Billings Police Department.

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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