Lincoln Woman Sentenced for Possession with Intent to Distribute Methamphetamine and Marijuana

United States Attorney Susan Lehr announced that Merry Barbara Bills, age 42, of Lincoln, Nebraska, was sentenced on February 6, 2025, in federal court in Lincoln for to possession with intent to distribute 50 grams or more of methamphetamine mixture and an unspecified amount of marijuana. United States District Judge Susan M. Bazis sentenced Bills to 125 months’ imprisonment. There is no parole in the federal system.  After Bills’s release from prison, she will being a five-year term of supervised release.

Shortly before 1:00 am on November 26, 2023, Lincoln Police Department officers were dispatched to a convenience store in Lincoln after a clerk found a bag outside the entrance to the store which contained four breast milk bags, each containing approximately 33 grams of meth. The clerk provided the bag to LPD and described the couple believed to be associated with the bag, as well as a description of their car.  LPD officers obtained security video from the store which showed Bills and a male companion arriving at the store shortly before midnight on November 25, 2023. Bills dropped the bag containing the meth when she got out of the car and put on her coat before going into the store.  Bills and her companion left the store about 20 minutes later but failed to notice the bag on the ground outside.  They returned about 10 minutes later and appeared to look around for something briefly before leaving again.  Shortly before 2:00 am on the 26th of November, the clerk called LPD to tell them the couple had returned.  Bills was found in the store restroom.  She was holding a bag containing approximately one ounce of meth and a second bag was found on her person.  She told LPD all the meth belonged to her, claiming it was for her personal use. The total meth found weighed approximately six ounces.

This case was investigated by the Lincoln/Lancaster County Drug Task Force.