United States of America v. Shaynee Renee Gibbs

Billings, Montana criminal defense lawyer represented the Defendant, a Billings meth, fentanyl trafficker sentenced to 10 years in prison.

A Billings woman who admitted to trafficking methamphetamine and fentanyl pills in the community after law enforcement found drugs, firearms and cash in a vehicle in which she was an occupant was sentenced today to 10 years in prison, to be followed by five years of supervised release, U.S. Attorney Jesse Laslovich said.



The defendant, Shaynee Renee Gibbs, 45, pleaded guilty in October 2023 to possession with intent to distribute controlled substances.



U.S. District Judge Susan P. Watters presided.



The government alleged in court documents that in November 2022, Laurel Police Department officers conducted a traffic stop of a Cadillac occupied by Gibbs and co-defendant Aaron Meeks. In an initial search of the vehicle, officers located a firearm and drug paraphernalia. Later, law enforcement executed a search warrant on the vehicle and a package Gibbs and Meeks had said they were awaiting. The package contained approximately 3.8 pounds of meth and fentanyl. In the Cadillac, agents located fentanyl pills, a 9mm pistol, a 9mm rifle, multiple rounds of ammunition and $12,461 in cash. Meeks told law enforcement that he and Gibbs were picking up drug packages of meth and fentanyl coming from Arizona for co-defendant Cynthia Pruett. Gibbs told law enforcement that Pruett was distributing large quantities of meth and fentanyl and storing drugs at a storage unit. Pruett was sentenced previously to 15 years and three months in prison for her conviction in the case. Meeks and a third co-defendant, Jacob Taylor West, are pending sentencing for their convictions in the case.



Assistant U.S. Attorney Colin M. Rubich prosecuted the case. The Drug Enforcement Administration, Billings Police Department, U.S. Border Patrol, Laurel Police Department, Yellowstone County Sheriff's Office and Montana Highway Patrol conducted the investigation.



This case is part of Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN), a program bringing together all levels of law enforcement and the communities they serve to reduce violent crime and gun violence, and to make our neighborhoods safer for everyone. On May 26, 2021, the Department launched a violent crime reduction strategy strengthening PSN based on these core principles: fostering trust and legitimacy in our communities, supporting community-based organizations that help prevent violence from occurring in the first place, setting focused and strategic enforcement priorities, and measuring the results.

Defendant was found guilty and sentenced to 10 years in prison, to be followed by five years of supervised release