Breaking News: Fishtail meth suspect to plead guilty

A Fishtail man charged with possessing more than six pounds of methamphetamine is scheduled to plead guilty next week in federal court.
Merrill Clark Gardner, 61, will plead guilty to conspiracy to possess with intent to distribute methamphetamine next month. Under the terms of a plea agreement a second felony count of possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine will be dismissed. Gardner will also concede the forfeiture of items on his property, which could include the actual property, according to the plea agreement filed Monday in federal court.
Gardner signed the plea agreement last Wednesday, Oct. 14, according to a motion filed by his defense attorney. He has been held without bail in the Yellowstone County Detention Facility since his June 2015 arrest. Gardner is represented by the Selvey Law Firm in Billings and Absarokee attorney Paula Saye.

Background
An indictment filed last summer charged Gardner with knowingly and unlawfully conspiring with other people to possess with the intent to distribute 500 grams or more of a substance containing a detectable amount of methamphetamine between January 2013 and June 2015 in Fishtail and at other locations in Montana and elsewhere.
Gardner was also charged with possessing with the intent to distribute 500 grams of a substance containing a detectable amount of methamphetamine during the same time period.
According to court documents, investigators directed a confidential source to meet Gardner at his Fishtail home to “discuss the distribution of methamphetamine” on June 17.
As investigators watched, Gardner left his residence and returned approximately 30 minutes later with 1 ¼ pounds of methamphetamine wrapped in gray duct tape with saw dust around the outside of the tape, according to the complaint.
The confidential informant then took the methamphetamine to investigators, where a field test “yielded positive results” for the presence of methamphetamine.
The following day, June 18, investigators executed a search warrant at Gardner’s home. Another 1 ¼ pounds of methamphetamine wrapped in gray duct tape was allegedly found in Gardner’s truck when he arrived at home as the search was being conducted, according to the complaint. A field test was positive for the presence of methamphetamine.
Another Stillwater County man who was with Gardner at the time of the search told investigators he had driven Gardner to a location in Nye prior to arriving at Gardner’s home on June 18, according to the complaint.
Investigators conducted a consent search at the Nye property where they found three more packages wrapped in gray duct tape and in a large garbage can with saw dust, according to the complaint. Each one of those three packages allegedly contained 1 ¼ pounds of what field tested positive for methamphetamine. The owner of the Nye property told investigators he had allowed Gardner to store methamphetamine on his property for at least five years and had been paid by Gardner to do so between $100 and $200 per month, according to the complaint. That brings to a total 6.25 pounds of meth recovered by authorities.
Federal prosecutors are also seeking a criminal forfeiture which could force Gardner to forfeit all property derived from any proceeds obtained directly or indirectly from the alleged illegal activity. According to a document filed by U.S. Assistant Attorney Colin Rubich, authorities are seeking the “real property” located on Delger Road in Fishtail.