BILLINGS – A Glendive man who admitted drug and firearm crimes after law enforcement found more than a pound of methamphetamine in his hotel room was sentenced on Tuesday to 12 years in prison and five years of supervised release, U.S. Attorney Kurt Alme said in a press release.
John Allen Wagner, 40, pleaded guilty in November to possession with intent to distribute meth and to possession of a firearm in furtherance of a drug trafficking crime.
U.S. District Judge Susan P. Watters presided over the case.
Wagner was arrested after Billings police officers responded to a complaint at a downtown Billings hotel on April 21, 2018.
When no one answered the door at the room referred to in the complaint, a staff member entered followed by the officers, who saw drug paraphernalia.
About that time, Wagner, who was staying in the room, came walking down the hall. Officers asked Wagner to stop, but he ran.
Officers chased and eventually caught Wagner. After getting a search warrant, law enforcement found more than 500 grams, or a little more than a pound, of meth in Wagner’s hotel room and a handgun in his vehicle. A pound of meth is the equivalent of about 3,624 doses.
