Billings woman pleads guilty to methamphetamine charges

GREAT FALLS – A Billings woman accused trafficking methamphetamine admitted to charges today, U.S. Attorney Kurt Alme said.

The defendant, Raven Michelle Volkomener, 43, pleaded guilty to possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine. Volkomener faces a mandatory minimum 10 years to life imprisonment, a $10,000,000 fine, and at least 5 years of supervised release.

Chief U.S. District Judge Brian M. Morris presided and will determine any sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors. Sentencing is set for December 17, 2025. Volkomener was detained pending further proceedings.

The government alleged in court documents that on May 4, 2024, law enforcement received reports of a car driving erratically south towards Billings on Highway 87. Montana Highway Patrol (MHP) identified the vehicle roughly five miles from Billings, observed it commit a traffic infraction, and pulled it over.

Law enforcement asked the driver to step out of the car and she was identified as Volkomener. She had an outstanding felony arrest warrant. She was taken into custody and that same day law enforcement, pursuant to a search warrant, searched the vehicle. Among other items discovered in the vehicle were four packages of suspected methamphetamine located in a backpack in the back seat. The methamphetamine was later analyzed and found to contain over 1,700 grams of pure meth.

Law enforcement also obtained a search warrant for the Volkomener’s cell phone. Among other evidence found on the phone were text messages from at least February 2023 to May 4, 2024, between Volkomener and a co-defendant. In those messages the two are corresponding about a trip by Volkomener to Great Falls in May 2024 to collect methamphetamine.

Assistant U.S. Attorneys Jeff Starnes and Zeno Baucus prosecuted the case. Montana Highway Patrol, Federal Bureau of Investigation, Drug Enforcement Administration, and the and Montana Department of Criminal Investigations, conducted the investigation.

This case is part of Operation Take Back America a nationwide initiative that marshals the full resources of the Department of Justice to repel the invasion of illegal immigration, achieve the total elimination of cartels and transnational criminal organizations (TCOs), and protect our communities from the perpetrators of violent crime. Operation Take Back America streamlines efforts and resources from the Department’s Organized Crime Drug Enforcement Task Forces (OCDETFs) and Project Safe Neighborhood (PSN).

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