Michael Lira, a 53-year-old man from Billings, Montana, was sentenced to 150 months in federal prison for his role in a sprawling methamphetamine distribution ring tied to Great Falls. U.S. District Judge Brian M. Morris handed down the sentence, which includes five years of supervised release and a $100 special assessment. The conviction marks the latest fallout from a 2016 investigation targeting high-level drug traffickers in central Montana.
The Russell Country Drug Task Force launched the probe in the fall of 2016, zeroing in on Lira’s connection to Robert Linn, Jr., a Great Falls resident who previously received 276 months in prison for his part in the same drug network. Investigators uncovered that Lira, though based in Billings, acted as a key distributor for Linn, moving multi-pound shipments of meth across state lines and deep into rural communities.
On April 8, 2017, surveillance intensified when agents learned Lira would meet Linn at a gas station near Lewistown to exchange drugs and cash. Law enforcement tracked both men as they converged on the remote location—Linn driving east from Great Falls, Lira west from Billings. In the parking lot, agents watched Lira approach Linn’s truck, deliver a bag, then later retrieve a black bag loaded with methamphetamine.
After Linn returned to Great Falls, Lira drove into a neighboring colony outside Lewistown. Agents intercepted him at a trailer behind a colony building. A search revealed a small baggie of meth—4.264 grams at 99% purity—in his coat. Lira then directed officers to a red toolbox in his vehicle, where they seized four massive bundles of meth totaling 1,793 grams, also at 99% purity—yielding 1,775 grams, or nearly four pounds, of pure crystal meth.
Lira admitted during a post-arrest interview that he started dealing in ounces but rapidly escalated to pound-level transactions. He confessed to receiving a pound of meth from Linn in August and September 2016, two pounds in December 2016, and two more pounds across January and February 2017—flooding the region with high-purity narcotics. The DEA lab results confirmed the deadly potency of the seized drugs.
The case was prosecuted by Assistant U.S. Attorney Jessica Betley and investigated by Homeland Security Investigations, the Drug Enforcement Administration, and the Russell Country Drug Task Force. Lira’s extensive criminal record—laced with prior felonies for narcotics, burglaries, assaults, and firearms violations—was cited as aggravating factors during sentencing. Federal authorities say the takedown is part of a broader crackdown under Project Safe Neighborhoods targeting violent and drug-related crime in Montana.
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Key Facts
- State: Montana
- Agency: DOJ USAO
- Category: Drug Trafficking
- Source: Official Source ↗
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