Billings man sentenced to more than 11 years in prison on drug trafficking charges

BILLINGS - A Billings man who tried to collect a package from the post office with 6,000 carfentanil pills hidden inside a stuffed animal was sentenced today, Acting U.S. Attorney Mark Steger Smith said.

Timothy Christopher Payne was sentenced to 140 months in prison with five years of supervised release on one count of attempted possession with intent to distribute a controlled substance. He was also sentenced to 48 months in prison on one count of using a communication facility in a felony act related to a controlled substance. The two sentences will run concurrently.

Payne, 39, pleaded guilty in February 2026 to the two counts.

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

The government alleged in court documents that a suspicious package addressed to Payne's residence on Lewis Avenue in Billings held just over a pound of carfentanil that Payne intended to traffic.

On Oct. 17, 2025, the U.S. Postal Service flagged a package as suspicious that had been mailed to a "George Pina" but addressed to a residence associated with Payne. Investigators filed for a search warrant to open the package and as they waited for approval Payne arrived at the post office to pick up the parcel, using the name George Pina.

The day before, a mail carrier had attempted to deliver the package to Payne's residence but it was too large to fit in his mailbox. The carrier continued on with her route and a few minutes later Payne flagged her down and attempted to retrieve the package. The carrier told him he would have to pick it up at the post office, which is what Payne tried to do the next day.

At the post office Payne was told the package had yet to arrive and so he left his phone number, requesting a call once it was ready for pickup. In the meantime investigators received their warrant and opened the package. Inside they found a stuffed animal that concealed a baggie of approximately 6,000 blue pills marked "M 30." Technicians tested the pills, which together weighed approximately 575.6 grams or 1.2 pounds, and found they contained carfentanil, a synthetic fentanyl analogue.

Agents then called Payne and told him his package had arrived. Payne returned to the post office, picked up his parcel and walked back outside. Agents at that point arrested him, to which Payne responded repeatedly, "I knew you guys were here. I knew you guys were coming."

The U.S. Attorney's Office prosecuted the case. The United States Postal Inspection Service, Eastern Montana High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area Task Force and the Billings Police Department conducted the investigation.