Billings woman sentenced to over 7 years in prison for distributing methamphetamine

BILLINGS - A Billings woman who distributed methamphetamine was sentenced today to 87 months in prison to be followed by 5 years of supervised release, U.S. Attorney Kurt Alme said.

Rita Denny, 45, pleaded guilty to one count of possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine.

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

The government alleged in court documents that on September 21, 2022, law enforcement officers arranged to purchase methamphetamine and fentanyl from a co-defendant. Agents arrived and arrested the co-defendant, who was in possession of 50 fentanyl pills and approximately 64 grams of meth. The co-defendant's passenger told agents "Rita" supplied the drugs to the co-defendant.

Agents obtained a search warrant for the co-defendant's phone and located messages between the co-defendant and Rita Denny. Those messages indicated Denny was supplying the co-defendant with drugs and dictating the price at which the co-defendant should sell the drugs.

On September 30, 2022, agents obtained a search warrant for Denny's residence. They seized 179.9 grams of methamphetamine and $5,694 in cash. Denny agreed to speak with agents and admitted to traveling to California to purchase bulk amounts of methamphetamine. Specifically, she told agents she took two recent trips to California to purchase five pounds of methamphetamine each time.

The U.S. Attorney's Office prosecuted the case. Montana Division of Criminal Investigation and the DEA conducted the investigation.

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