Poplar woman admits trafficking oxycodone on Fort Peck Indian Reservation

GREAT FALLS – A Poplar woman suspected of being a long-time distributor of oxycodone pills on the Fort Peck Indian Reservation admitted drug trafficking and money laundering crimes today, Acting U.S. Attorney Leif M. Johnson said.

Kaycee Lynn Menz, 31, pleaded guilty to an indictment charging her with possession with intent to distribute oxycodone and with money laundering. Menz faces a maximum 20 years in prison, a $1 million fine and three years of supervised release.

Chief U.S. District Judge Brian M. Morris presided. Chief Judge Morris set sentencing for Dec. 8. Menz was released pending further proceedings.

In court documents filed in the case, the government alleged that beginning in June 2014 and continuing through at least May 2020, Menz, and her co-defendant and boyfriend, Jason Tyrell Lee, began selling illegal oxycodone pills from a house they rented in Poplar, on the Fort Peck Indian Reservation. Law enforcement learned that Lee resided primarily in Minnesota, Menz primarily lived at the Poplar residence and that Lee supplied Menz with the pills she sold. Investigators interviewed many individuals who witnessed Menz and Lee distributing illegal pills. Some individuals occasionally helped with the drug enterprise by driving Menz around to conduct sale and by wiring or transferring drug proceeds to individuals in Minnesota. Menz also sent money using transfer services to individuals in Minnesota and asked others to send money on her behalf. Lee is pending trial in the case.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Ethan R. Plaut is prosecuting the case, which was investigated by the Drug Enforcement Administration, FBI, Roosevelt County Sheriff’s Office, Fort Peck Tribes Department of Law and Justice and Montana Highway Patrol.

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