Billings, MT — A 35-year-old woman caught trafficking methamphetamine across state lines while stockpiling an arsenal of five firearms has been sentenced to eight years in federal prison. Amber Lynn Lanphear admitted to dealing meth in Billings while using firearms to protect her operation, sealing her fate with a guilty plea earlier this year.
Lanphear was sentenced Monday by U.S. District Judge Susan Watters, who handed down the eight-year term followed by five years of supervised release. The judgment stems from charges of conspiracy to possess meth with intent to distribute and possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime — a charge that alone carried a mandatory minimum of five years.
According to court documents, federal agents began tracking Lanphear in 2018 after receiving credible tips that she was importing large quantities of meth from Colorado into Montana. Surveillance footage captured her making suspicious stops in a vehicle, meeting with unidentified individuals in what investigators described as textbook drug distribution patterns.
In January 2019, Lanphear escalated her operation, using a social media account to advertise ‘pre-orders’ and posting a photo of what appeared to be a large crystal of meth, along with the message, ‘heading south.’ Law enforcement traced a subsequent run to Colorado, culminating in a search warrant executed at her Billings residence on January 22, 2019.
Inside her home and vehicle, agents recovered five firearms and approximately 32 grams of nearly pure methamphetamine. The weapons included a mix of handguns and long guns, none of which were legally registered to her drug enterprise. Prosecutors argued the firepower was intended to protect drug proceeds and intimidate rivals.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Karla Painter prosecuted the case, investigated by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives. The case was part of Project Guardian and Project Safe Neighborhoods — federal initiatives targeting gun violence and meth-driven crime in Montana, where violent crime surged 36% between 2013 and 2018. Lanphear’s conviction marks another strike in the DOJ’s crackdown on armed drug traffickers feeding the region’s addiction crisis.
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Key Facts
- State: Montana
- Agency: DOJ USAO
- Category: Drug Trafficking|Weapons
- Source: Official Source ↗
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