Justin D. Whatcott Acting United States Attorney for the District of Idaho | Department of Justice
Carson Lee Maynard, 49, of Livingston, Montana, and Amy Marie Tillman, 43, of Lewistown, Montana, have been sentenced to federal prison for their roles in a drug trafficking conspiracy involving methamphetamine and fentanyl. Acting U.S. Attorney Justin Whatcott announced that Maynard received a sentence of 180 months and Tillman received a sentence of 70 months. Both were also ordered to forfeit a residence in Livingston, Montana used during the commission of the offense.
The sentencing follows an incident where an Idaho State Police Trooper stopped the pair's vehicle due to a window tint violation. A search led to the discovery of five pounds of methamphetamine and 3,000 fentanyl pills hidden in a spare tire. Investigators determined that Maynard and Tillman had traveled from New Mexico and Las Vegas with large quantities of drugs intended for distribution in Montana.
Maynard has a prior federal conviction for conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine in the District of Montana.
Senior U.S. District Judge B. Lynn Winmill also imposed supervised release terms: five years for Maynard and three years for Tillman after their respective prison sentences. Both defendants pleaded guilty to the charges in May 2025.
Acting U.S. Attorney Whatcott stated: "I commend the work of the U.S. Marshals Service, the Idaho State Police, the Missouri River Drug Task Force-HIDTA (Montana), and the Montana Highway Patrol." Special Assistant U.S. Attorney Zoie Laggis prosecuted the case.
The prosecution was handled by a specially deputized Special Assistant U.S. Attorney (SAUSA) from the U.S. Attorney’s Office, funded by both the Eastern Idaho Partnership (EIP) and the State of Idaho. The EIP is comprised of local city and county officials from eastern Idaho along with representatives from the Idaho Department of Correction.
Through this program, law enforcement can prosecute violent offenders and drug traffickers under federal law using EIP SAUSAs, which often results in more severe penalties than those handed down by state courts.
Established in January 2016, this initiative has resulted in indictments against approximately 247 defendants; about 185 were indicted on drug trafficking charges alone. Sentences under this program total roughly 12,090 months—or just over 1,000 years—in federal prison so far. The average prison term among all defendants is about seven years; those convicted specifically for drug trafficking serve nearly six years on average.
