BILLINGS-Steven Amundson, a Billings man who admitted selling methamphetamine as part of a larger trafficking conspiracy, was sentenced on Thursday to 48 months in prison and five years of supervised release, U.S. Attorney Kurt Alme said.
Amundson pleaded guilty in October 2018 to possession with intent to distribute meth.
U.S. District Judge Susan P. Watters presided.
In April 2018, law enforcement began investing a meth conspiracy that was importing large quantities of meth into the Billings area, the prosecution said in court records. A confidential informant led agents to Amundson, from whom the informant bought ounce quantities of meth on multiple occasions. Agents also bought an ounce of meth from Amundson in a controlled buy. Amundson’s supplier was co-defendant Wilfrido Varelas-Rubio, who repeatedly brought multiple pound quantities of meth to Billings and provided multiple ounces to Amundson for redistribution. In a search of Varelas-Rubio’s hotel room and vehicle in Billings, agents found nearly 4.5 pounds of meth. Varelas-Rubio was convicted in the case and sentenced to nine years in prison.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Colin Rubich prosecuted the case, which was investigated by the Drug Enforcement Administration, Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, EMHIDTA and FBI.
The case is part of Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN), which is the centerpiece of the Department of Justice’s violent crime reduction efforts. PSN is an evidence-based program proven to be effective at reducing violent crime. Through PSN, a broad spectrum of stakeholders work together to identify the most pressing violent crime problems in the community and develop comprehensive solutions to address them. As part of this strategy, PSN focuses enforcement efforts on the most violent offenders and partners with locally based prevention and reentry programs for lasting reductions in crime.
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Source: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of the United States Attorneys
