Former Miles City postmaster sentenced in meth conspiracy

BILLINGS—Stephen Michael Miller, the former postmaster of the U.S. Postal Service Office in Miles City, was sentenced to five years of probation and fined $2,500 today in federal court for his role in a conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine that came through the mail, U.S. Attorney Kurt G. Alme said.

Miller, 59, pleaded guilty earlier to conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute meth.

U.S. District Judge Susan P. Watters presided at sentencing.

An investigation found that between 2013 and August 2015 there was a conspiracy to send meth through the mail for distribution in the Miles City area. Several other defendants have been convicted and sentenced in the case. One of the co-conspirators, James Toms, who received his meth through the post office, was sentenced in April 2018 to 96 months in prison and five years of supervised release for conviction on possession with intent to distribute meth.

Miller, who was the postmaster in Miles City, used his position to warn Toms that the police had been monitoring mail sent to his residence. On one occasion, Miller intercepted for Toms a package that contained about four ounces of meth. Miller delivered the package to Toms in exchange for one ounce of the meth. Four ounces of meth is the equivalent of about 904 individual doses.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Colin Rubich prosecuted the case, which was investigated by the Drug Enforcement Administration, FBI, Eastern Montana High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area Task Force and Miles City Police Department.

The case is part of Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN), which is the centerpiece of the Department of Justice’s violent crime reduction efforts.  PSN is an evidence-based program proven to be effective at reducing violent crime. Through PSN, a broad spectrum of stakeholders work together to identify the most pressing violent crime problems in the community and develop comprehensive solutions to address them. As part of this strategy, PSN focuses enforcement efforts on the most violent offenders and partners with locally based prevention and reentry programs for lasting reductions in crime.

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