Great Falls man sentenced to over 3 years in prison for drug trafficking

GREAT FALLS - A Great Falls man who distributed methamphetamine was sentenced today to 43 months in prison to be followed by three years of supervised release, Acting U.S. Attorney Tim Racicot said.

Nicholas Charles Williams, 46, pleaded guilty in December 2025 to one count of possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine.

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

The government alleged in court documents that between 2021 and March 2025, law enforcement officers investigated a group of individuals suspected of distributing methamphetamine in and around Great Falls. Williams was one of the members of the group. As part of the investigation into Williams, officers conducted three controlled purchases of methamphetamine from him utilizing a confidential informant. On each occasion, the drugs were sent to the DEA Laboratory for testing, which confirmed each of the substances acquired from Williams was methamphetamine.

On July 9, 2024, officers interviewed Williams and he admitted to selling methamphetamine between 2021 and late June 2024.

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. Attorneys Zeno Baucus and Jeff Starnes prosecuted the case. The Russell Country Drug Task Force and DEA conducted the investigation as part of the HSTF.

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