MISSOULA — A Belgrade man who admitted to supplying methamphetamine to others for resale was sentenced Wednesday, Feb. 23, 2022, to five years in prison to be followed by five years of supervised release, U.S. Attorney Leif M. Johnson said.
Arthur Ronald Kane, 52, pleaded guilty in September 2021 to possession with intent to distribute meth.
U.S. District Judge Dana L. Christensen presided.
In court documents, the government alleged that in late 2020, the Missouri River Drug Task Force observed Kane make several drug transactions. Kane told investigators that he became a “middle-man” in meth distribution for co-defendant Jared Williams in the winter of 2019 and that he sold meth to two people. Kane also told investigators that he received meth from another co-defendant, Max Dudley Stilson, and agreed that the three of them worked together to distribute drugs. Williams was sentenced to eight years in prison for the conviction in the case. An arrest warrant was issued for Stilson, who failed to appear for sentencing after conviction in the case. A third co-defendant, Marty Eugene McDonald, is pending sentencing for conviction in the case.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Jennifer S. Clark prosecuted the case, which was investigated by the Missouri River Drug Task Force and the Montana Highway Patrol.
This case is part of Project Safe Neighborhoods, a U.S. Department of Justice initiative to reduce violent crime. Through PSN, federal, tribal, state and local law enforcement partners in Montana focus on violent crime driven by methamphetamine trafficking, armed robbers, firearms offenses and violent offenders with outstanding warrants.
