Billings man pleads guilty to drug trafficking charges

BILLINGS - A Billings man who was traveling through Montana with five pounds of meth admitted to charges today, Acting U.S. Attorney Mark Steger Smith said.

Jason Daniel Schauer, 45, pleaded guilty to one count of possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine. Schauer faces 10 years in prison, a $10 million fine, five years of supervised release, and a $100 special assessment.

U.S. District Magistrate Judge Timothy J. Cavan presided and will determine a sentence after considering the U.S. Sentencing Guidelines and other statutory factors. Sentencing will be set at a later time. Schauer remained on pretrial release pending further proceedings.

The government alleged in court documents that Schauer was moving methamphetamine from Arizona to Montana.

Schauer and a companion were pulled over outside Livingston on July 3, 2025, after a Montana Highway Patrol trooper watched the pair "tear through a (gas station) parking lot at a high rate of speed." Troopers grew suspicious that Schauer might be trafficking drugs after seeing drug paraphernalia in the car, which prompted them to seek a search warrant.

Searching the vehicle, troopers found five cellophane-wrapped bundles under the rear set of the car, weighing roughly five pounds total. DEA testing later revealed it was 2,202 grams of meth. When interviewed by the Montana Department of Criminal Investigation Schauer told agents he had paid $4,500 for the meth and that he purchased it in Phoenix from "cartel associated" individuals.

The U.S. Attorney's Office is prosecuting the case. Montana Highway Patrol, Montana Department of Criminal Investigation and the DEA conducted the investigation.