BILLINGS- A Billings man was sentenced to 15 years in federal prison Friday for trafficking large amounts of meth and gun possession.
Joshua Jock Clause, 36, pleaded guilty in November to meth possession with intent to distribute and possession of a firearm during a drug-trafficking crime, according to U.S. Attorney Kurt Alme. He was also sentenced to five years supervised release.
According to federal prosecutors, authorities began investigating Clause in June 2018 on suspicion of importing meth into the Billings area from California.
After obtaining a warrant, Billings police pulled over Clause and arrested him. They found cash and a cell phone on him, and an additional $17,000 cash, an SKS rifle and a handgun at his residence, according to Alme.
A confidential informant told agents that, upon Clause’s jailhouse instructions, he went to his house found 12 pounds of meth in a cooler outside the house that was missed by searching officers, according to Alme. That’s the equivalent of 43,488 doses
Another informant told police he had received 20 pounds of meth, or 72,488 doses, directly from Clause, who used multiple dealers for the meth.
U.S. District Judge Susan P. Watters presided over the case.
