Billings man sentenced to over 9 years in prison for trafficking meth

BILLINGS - A Billings man who was dealing meth from his Alderson Avenue home was sentenced to prison yesterday, Acting U.S. Attorney Mark Steger Smith said.

Joshua Mark Rideshorse, 41, who pleaded guilty in February 2026, was sentenced to nine years and five months in prison, followed by five years of supervised release, on one count of possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine. He was also sentenced to nine years and five months, followed by three years of supervised release, on one count of a prohibited person in possession of a firearm. Both sentences will run concurrently.

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

The government alleged in court documents that Rideshorse was dealing methamphetamine he bought in Washington. The Eastern Montana High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area Task Force had learned in September 2024 that Rideshorse was possibly trafficking illicit drugs. On Oct. 16, 2024, the U.S. Marshal Service Montana Violent Offender's Task Force arrested Rideshorse at his Billings home on an outstanding warrant and while there spotted drugs, cash, and a pistol in the open. Rideshorse was convicted of a felony in 2022 and is currently prohibited from possessing a firearm. Law enforcement returned with a warrant and searched the house, where they found 4 ounces of methamphetamine, a stolen Smith & Wesson handgun, and $9,783 in cash.

This prosecution is part of the Homeland Security Task Force (HSTF) initiative established by Executive Order 14159, Protecting the American People Against Invasion. The HSTF is a whole-of-government partnership dedicated to eliminating criminal cartels, foreign gangs, transnational criminal organizations, and human smuggling and trafficking rings operating in the United States and abroad. Through historic interagency collaboration, the HSTF directs the full might of United States law enforcement towards identifying, investigating, and prosecuting the full spectrum of crimes committed by these organizations, which have long fueled violence and instability within our borders. In performing this work, the HSTF places special emphasis on investigating and prosecuting those engaged in child trafficking or other crimes involving children. The HSTF further utilizes all available tools to prosecute and remove the most violent criminal aliens from the United States. HSTF Montana comprises agents and officers from a number of federal agencies as well as drug task forces throughout the state, with the prosecution being led by the United States Attorney's Office for the District of Montana.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Colin Rubich prosecuted the case. The Eastern Montana High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area Task Force and the U.S. Marshal Service Montana Violent Offender's Task Force conducted the investigation as part of the HSTF.

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