Final conviction secured in meth-trafficking conspiracy on Crow Reservation

Federal prosecutors have secured convictions in all 27 cases filed against individuals involved in a large-scale meth-trafficking conspiracy based on the Crow Reservation, U.S. Attorney Jesse Laslovich announced during a Thursday press conference. 

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Twenty-four of the defendants have already been sentenced to a cumulative 165 years in prison. Three defendants are awaiting sentencing. The conspiracy’s alleged leader and another alleged high-level participant, both believed to have connections to the Jalisco cartel, remain fugitives. 

A diagram produced by the U.S. attorney’s office identified seven participants as having high-level involvement, 10 as mid-level and seven as low-level. Twenty-three of the 27 convicted were Montanans, from Lodge Grass, Billings, Crow Agency, Hardin, Garryowen and Lame Deer. 

All of the convicted defendants pleaded guilty, including one who earlier this month pleaded guilty mid-trial. These convictions don’t happen by accident, Laslovich said. The defendants pleaded guilty because of the evidence collected during the investigation, which involved the DEA, the FBI, the U.S. Marshals Service and the Bureau of Indian Affairs. 

These federal law enforcement agencies in 2022 began a large-scale investigation into a drug trafficking organization selling meth and fentanyl operating out of two residences on the Crow Reservation, including one referred to as Spear Siding. The group sold drugs on the Crow, Northern Cheyenne, Rocky Boy’s and Fort Belknap reservations, as well as to the Billings and Havre communities. 

The agencies involved in the investigation, along with local law enforcement partners, in April 2023 arrested several individuals at Spear Siding. 

Laslovich drew attention to the work of the agencies involved in the investigation, the extent of which is often unknown to civilians due to its secretive nature. Laslovich “had no idea how much work the FBI does” in Montana prior to becoming the U.S. Attorney for the state, he said. 

The ability of federal agencies to do this work depends on the willingness of the federal government to fund them. House Republicans in June proposed a budget which would cut a billion dollars of funding from the Department of Justice, which includes the U.S. attorney’s office, FBI, DEA and U.S. Marshals. This proposed 3% budget cut would be an additional cut to a budget already reduced by 3% last year. 

Laslovich said the previous budget cuts meant his office couldn’t hire positions and that it “impacts (agencies’) ability to get dangerous people off the street.” 

Supply-side and demand-side 

Law enforcement focuses on the supply-side of the nation’s drug problem, but communities must also address the demand-side of the issue, Laslovich said. 

“Until we dedicate resources to help addiction, we’ll spin and spin and spin on this merry-go-round, it will never stop,” he said. 

Of the 12 convicted defendants on the primary indictment, eight had experienced some kind of trauma, according to court documents. Five had at least one parent who had struggled with addiction. Four had experienced some kind of violence or death, ranging from being shot by an acquaintance to witnessing the suicide of a family member to the loss of a child. Four had experienced neglect or abuse from parents during childhood. Two had experienced relationship violence. 

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