Transient Pleads Guilty to Trafficking Meth

A transient man accused of trafficking methamphetamine in the Billings area pleaded guilty to federal drug charges on Tuesday.  38-year-old Thomas Bailey accepted a plea agreement calling for initial charges of conspiracy and possession to be dismissed at sentencing.  They will recommend a 10-year prison sentence.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Brendan McCarthy said that agents with the Eastern Montana High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area task force attempted a controlled drug buy from Bailey on Jan. 29, 2014.  Bailey was photographed at the buy site.  Task force agents were contacted weeks later about a suspicious package delivered to a Billings resident.

They had been receiving packages delivered to the previous resident, which they would return to the delivery driver, only to have a group of “suspicious people”, including Thomas, reportedly show up asking about the packages.  The resident contacted authorities after finding 155 grams of methamphetamine in one of the packages.