Plentywood woman sentenced to more than 5 years in prison for trafficking meth

GREAT FALLS - A Plentywood woman who mailed herself methamphetamine was sentenced today to five years and four months in prison, followed by five years of supervised release, Acting U.S. Attorney Mark Steger Smith said.

Marie Viola Nesbit, 60, pleaded guilty in April 2026 to possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine.

Chief U.S. District Judge Brian M. Morris presided.

The government alleged in court documents that Nesbit mailed packages of methamphetamine to two houses in Plentywood, with the intention of selling the meth. Law enforcement first investigated when the U.S. Postal Service flagged two packages as suspicious. Using a warrant, agents searched the parcels and found a half pound of methamphetamine.

Law enforcement monitored the packages while they were delivered to the two Plentywood addresses. The occupants of the two homes told investigators Nesbit had mailed them. In an interview with agents later that day, Nesbit said she mailed the packages from California because she didn't want to get caught traveling back to Montana with them. She also admitted she planned to sell the meth.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Thomas K. Godfrey prosecuted the case. The U.S. Postal Inspection Service, FBI, Montana DCI, Montana Highway Patrol, and the Sheridan County Sheriff's Office conducted the investigation.