Arizona man sentenced to 3 years in prison for smuggling meth into Montana

BILLINGS - A Phoenix man who smuggled meth from Arizona to Billings was sentenced today to three years and one month in prison, followed by four years of supervised release, First Assistant U.S. Attorney Mark Steger Smith said.

Sebastian Kessamer Gilder, Jr., 28, pleaded guilty in June 2025 to possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine.

U.S. District Judge Kathleen S. Lane presided.

The government alleged in court documents that Gilder came to the attention of law enforcement in 2021 when the Eastern Montana High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area Taskforce was in the midst of investigating a Sonora, Mexico-based drug smuggling ring known locally as "The Village." The Village smuggled drugs from Mexico into Phoenix and then used couriers to move them into Montana by bus, personal vehicles, and the U.S. Postal Service. The shipments usually were coordinated by individuals in Hermosillo and Nogales, Sonora, Mexico.

Gilder, who lived in Phoenix, was recruited by the Village to transport illicit drugs to Billings. Investigators were aware of his movements and arranged a drug buy using an undercover agent on Jan. 13, 2021. The agent successfully bought a pound of methamphetamine off Gilder, which eventually led to his arrest.

This operation 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 various law enforcement agencies with the prosecution being led by the United States Attorney's Office for the District of Montana.

The U.S. Attorney's Office prosecuted this case. The Eastern Montana High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area Taskforce conducted the investigation.