Robert Earl Reed Pleads Guilty in U.S. Federal Court
| U.S. Attorney’s Office May 25, 2010 |
The United States Attorney’s Office announced that during a federal court session in Billings on May 25, 2010, before Chief U.S. District Judge Richard F. Cebull, ROBERT EARL REED, a 35-year-old resident of Billings, pled guilty to conspiracy to possess with the intent to distribute methamphetamine and distribution of cocaine. Sentencing has been set for August 25, 2010. He is currently released on special conditions.
In an Offer of Proof filed by Assistant U.S. Attorney James E. Seykora, the government stated it would have proved at trial the following:
REED was involved in a conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute and distribution of cocaine, a Schedule II controlled substance, from late 2008 to mid-2009. REED would receive cocaine from at least two sources of supply, and then distribute the cocaine to various individuals, including an undercover agent. REED sold cocaine to the undercover agent over two dozen times, totaling over 250 grams.
During the course of the conspiracy, surveillance teams followed REED and other co-conspirators to locations where they obtained cocaine for redistribution.
The two individuals who supplied cocaine to REED were interviewed and admitted to providing REED with cocaine for redistribution. When questioned, REED admitted to obtaining cocaine from these individuals from late 2008 to mid-2009. He also admitted that he in turn redistributed the cocaine in various quantities to numerous individuals, in addition to the undercover officer, in the Billings area.
The amount of cocaine that Robert REED was responsible for and which was directly and reasonably foreseeable to him in the conspiracy exceeded 400 grams.
REED faces possible penalties of a 20 years in prison, a $1,000,000 fine and three years supervised release.
The investigation was a cooperative effort between the Drug Enforcement Administration, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement, the Eastern Montana High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area (HIDTA) Task Force, the U.S. Marshals Service and the Billings Big Sky Safe Streets Task Force.