Pablo man pleads guilty to drug charge

A 27-year-old Pablo man pleaded guilty Wednesday during U.S. District Court proceedings in Billings to a charge of use of a communications facility to aid in a conspiracy to possess with the intent to distribute marijuana.

According to a release from the U.S. Department of Justice, Matthew Nicolai is accused of having drug-related communications with and running a money stash house for the owner of a vehicle which, when searched, was found to contain airline tickets, a cellphone, $14,154 in cash and small amounts of marijuana.

The owner was inside the vehicle when it was stopped on July 20, 2010 by a Yellowstone County deputy after it was determined the owner had a valid arrest warrant.

The person first provided a false name before telling the truth. It was after a police dog indicated the presence of narcotics that a search warrant was obtained.

The cellphone found inside the vehicle contained text messages blatantly discussing pound prices of marijuana, smuggling bulk cash via airlines, depositing bulk cash from drug proceeds deposited into bank accounts and dealing marijuana on reservations in Montana.

Text messages indicated marijuana was being distributed to Browning, Polson, Crow Agency, Havre, St. Ignatius, Great Falls, Missoula, Cut Bank, Lolo and other places throughout Montana.

Among those people who were involved in the communications was Nicolai, who later admitted to authorities that he had kept thousands of dollars in cash at his home for the person.

Nicolai faces up to four years in prison, three years of supervised release and a fine of up to $250,000. His sentencing is scheduled for Oct. 17.

The investigation that led to Nicolai’s arrest was conducted by the Billings Big Sky Safe Streets Task Force.