Tag: Billings
Gabriela Lopez-Castro, Illegal Reentry, Montana 2026
⏱ 2 min read Gabriela Lopez-Castro, a 35-year-old Mexican citizen, was sentenced to time served for illegally reentering the United States in Billings, Montana. Lopez-Castro, who was living in Roundup, pleaded guilty in March 2026 to one count of illegal reentry into the United States. She was arrested in Musselshell County on February 4, 2026,…
Jonathan Lloyd Erwin, Attempted Possession with Intent to Distribute Methamphetamine, Montana 2026
⏱ 2 min read Jonathan Lloyd Erwin, a 38-year-old Billings man, was sentenced to three years in prison for attempting to traffic methamphetamine in Montana. Erwin’s wife tipped off the US Postal Service in February 2025, sparking an investigation that led to his downfall. On March 11, 2025, USPS officials intercepted a package containing 7.5…
Fabian Lopez-Barragan, Illegal Reentry, Montana 2026
⏱ 2 min read Fabian Lopez-Barragan, a 25-year-old Mexican national, was pulled over in Sidney, Montana, on December 30, 2025, for driving a car with mismatched plates. The traffic stop led to the discovery that Lopez-Barragan was in the country illegally, having been deported in 2019. Lopez-Barragan pleaded guilty to one count of illegal reentry…
Satchel Vernard McDonald, Cocaine Possession with Intent to Distribute, Montana 2026
⏱ 2 min read Satchel Vernard McDonald, a 29-year-old from Billings, Montana, was dealing cocaine from a strip mall parking lot, armed with a handgun. The crimes took place over six months, starting in mid-2023, and ended with his arrest on January 6, 2024. McDonald’s operation was uncovered after a local business on Central Avenue…
Charles Jesse Sanchez, Meth Trafficking, Montana 2023
⏱ 2 min read Charles Jesse Sanchez, a 61-year-old Billings man, has pleaded guilty to trafficking methamphetamine on the Crow and Northern Cheyenne Indian Reservations. Sanchez, also known as ‘Chuck’, was caught by the FBI and Bureau of Indian Affairs (BIA) on June 19, 2023, after a confidential source purchased four ounces of meth from…
Joshua Mark Rideshorse, Methamphetamine Possession with Intent to Distribute, Montana 2026
⏱ 2 min read Joshua Mark Rideshorse, a 41-year-old Billings man, was dealing meth from his Alderson Avenue home when the Eastern Montana High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area Task Force caught wind of his operation in September 2024. Rideshorse was buying meth in Washington and selling it in Montana, raking in cash and amassing a…
Chad Miller Costello, Wire Fraud, Montana 2023
⏱ 2 min read Chad Miller Costello, a 36-year-old Billings man, ran a scrap metal business scheme that stole money from customers across the United States. From 2018 to 2023, Costello promised to buy scrap metal at premium prices, but only paid a portion or nothing of the contract price. He would then sell the…
Destinee Fate Rowe, Conspiracy to Possess with Intent to Distribute Methamphetamine, Montana 2026
⏱ 2 min read Destinee Fate Rowe, a 27-year-old woman from Wolf Point, Montana, was dealing methamphetamine out of motel rooms in Billings. In January 2026, she pleaded guilty to one count of conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute methamphetamine. Rowe’s meth trafficking operation was uncovered after an informant tipped off law enforcement, leading…
Violet Jean Littlelight, Carjacking Resulting in Death, Montana 2026
⏱ 2 min read Violet Jean Littlelight, 23, and Shyanna Jo Whitewolf, 21, were involved in a carjacking that turned deadly in a South Side Billings neighborhood on May 16, 2025. The two women, along with a third conspirator, Brian Contreraz, lured an acquaintance of Littlelight’s to South Park in Billings to rob him and…
Veronica Clarice Baker, Sex Trafficking a Minor, Montana 2023
⏱ 2 min read A 31-year-old woman from Lame Deer, Montana, has been sentenced to 6 years in prison for trafficking a child for sex in Billings. Veronica Clarice Baker pleaded guilty in July 2025 to one count of sex trafficking a minor. The crime occurred in April 2023, when Baker met a man named…
