Meth trafficking sends Billings man to prison for six years

BILLINGS — A Billings man who admitted to bringing large quantities of methamphetamine from Denver, Colorado, for distribution and trading guns for meth was sentenced today to six years in prison, to be followed by five years of supervised release, U.S. Attorney Jesse Laslovich said.

The defendant, Paul Andrew Guiot, 45, pleaded guilty in September 2023 to possession with intent to distribute meth.

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

The government alleged in court documents that in the summer of 2021, officers with the Eastern Montana High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area Task Force began investigating Guiot for drug trafficking. Guiot made trips to Denver alone and with his girlfriend, Jaide Alexander, of Billings, to buy drugs. In October 2021, officers served a state search warrant on a trailer where Guiot and Alexander lived. Officers located a small amount of narcotics and several loaded firearms. Guiot admitted to law enforcement that he and Alexander were importing large amounts of meth from Denver. He admitted he regularly traded guns for drugs in Montana and would then take the guns to Colorado to trade for more drugs. Alexander previously was sentenced to five years in prison, to be followed by five years of supervised release, for her guilty plea to possession with intent to distribute meth.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Colin M. Rubich prosecuted the case. The Eastern Montana High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area Task Force, Drug Enforcement Administration and FBI investigated the case.

This case is part of Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN), a program bringing together all levels of law enforcement and the communities they serve to reduce violent crime and gun violence, and to make our neighborhoods safer for everyone. On May 26, 2021, the Department launched a violent crime reduction strategy strengthening PSN based on these core principles: fostering trust and legitimacy in our communities, supporting community-based organizations that help prevent violence from occurring in the first place, setting focused and strategic enforcement priorities, and measuring the results.

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