A Billings woman has been sentenced to five years in federal prison for her role in distributing methamphetamine, according to U.S. Attorney Kurt Alme.
Stephanie Marie Nava, 37, entered a guilty plea in September 2025 to a charge of possession with intent to distribute controlled substances. The sentencing was handed down by U.S. District Judge Susan P. Watters.
Court documents state that on June 26, 2023, the Billings Police Department identified an apartment belonging to Nava as a storage location for drugs used by her co-defendant. After executing a state search warrant at the residence, Nava was present and told officers she did not know what her co-defendant had stored there. During the search, authorities found seven grams of fentanyl pills and 16.7 grams of methamphetamine in a back bedroom.
Further investigation led law enforcement to serve a search warrant at a hotel room in Billings, where they seized approximately 2.77 pounds of methamphetamine. Officers determined that this quantity was originally eight pounds before much of it had already been distributed. Another search warrant executed at a separate residence resulted in the seizure of eight ounces of methamphetamine.
Authorities reported that both Nava and her co-defendant coordinated the original eight-pound shipment and its distribution while they were in Mexico.
The case was prosecuted by the U.S. Attorney’s Office with investigations conducted by the Drug Enforcement Administration (DEA) and the Billings Police Department.
