Department of Justice

BILLINGS — A Billings man who admitted trafficking methamphetamine after a officers found the drug during a traffic stop near Big Timber was sentenced today to 10 years in prison, to be followed by four years of supervised release, U.S. Attorney Leif M. Johnson said.

Melvin Louis Weasel Boy, 47, pleaded guilty in September to possession with intent to distribute controlled substances.

U.S. District Judge Susan P. Watters presided.

The government alleged in court documents that in November 2019, a Montana Highway Patrol trooper made a traffic stop on Interstate 90 near Big Timber of a Cadillac Escalade that matched the description of a stolen vehicle and had mismatched license plates. The officer arrested Weasel Boy, the driver, for driving a stolen vehicle. During a search of Weasel Boy, law enforcement found a plastic bag containing about two ounces of meth. The government further alleged that when Weasel Boy was subsequently arrested in February 2021 for violations of pretrial release, law enforcement found a stolen, loaded gun, with an extended, loaded magazine, and meth in the car he was driving.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Jeanne Torske prosecuted the case, which was investigated by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, the U.S. Marshals Service, Drug Enforcement Administration and the Montana Highway Patrol.

This case is part of Project Safe Neighborhoods, a U.S. Department of Justice initiative to reduce violent crime. Through PSN, federal, tribal, state and local law enforcement partners in Montana focus on violent crime driven by methamphetamine trafficking, armed robbers, firearms offenses and violent offenders with outstanding warrants.