Former GOP Leader Pleads Guilty to Drug Charges

On Election Day Tuesday, former Montana Republican House Majority Leader Michael David Lange of Billings faced a very different kind of decision for a politician– this time, in the courtroom– appearing before U.S. District Judge Susan Watters in Billings.  The 57-year-old former GOP leader, who once told the governor to go to hell, admitted to trafficking in several pounds of methamphetamine as part of a drug conspiracy.  The Gazette reports he entered a plea of guilty to conspiracy to possess meth for distribution and possession with intent to distribute.

Lange faces a minimum mandatory 10 years to life in prison and a maximum fine of $10 million on each count.  Assistant U.S. Attorney John Sullivan said Lange admitted to getting about 20 pounds of meth through his co-defendant, Jose Soltero.  He distributed drugs from about April to October 2016.