Billings man denies fentanyl distribution charge

Chase Ray Strike Sr. was booked into Yellowstone County Detention Facility after a six-figure warrant was filed for his arrest. State law enforcement agents allegedly found the 44-year-old in possession of over 100 pills suspected of containing the synthetic opioid. Strike, previously sentenced for federal and felony charges, was also in possession of a shotgun at the time, court documents said.

“(Strike) is a multi-convicted felon,” said Yellowstone County Ed Zink during Strike’s arraignment on Wednesday. Zink asked presiding Judge Thomas Pardy to set Stike’s bond at $500,000.

In June 2023, a Montana Division of Criminal Investigation agent was monitoring Strike, who had a federal warrant for his arrest. The agent followed a pickup truck in which Strike was riding to a casino on 16th Street West.

Once Strike got out of the truck, the agent apprehended him with the assistance of Montana Highway Patrol troopers. The agent called a K9 unit with the Laurel Police Department to the scene, and the police dog alerted officers to the presence of drugs inside the truck, according to court documents. DCI received a warrant to search the truck.

Inside the truck, agents allegedly found a 12-gauge shotgun, along with ammunition. Agents also found 150 pills inside a magnetic stash box mounted to the bottom of the center console. Investigators sent the pills to a U.S. Drug Enforcement Agency laboratory, where they allegedly tested positive for fentanyl.

County prosecutors filed criminal charges against Strike on July 31. He is facing two felonies: drug possession with intent to distribute and unlawful possession of a firearm by a convicted person.

At the time of his arrest in June 2023, Strike was on federal probation after he was sentenced to roughly 13 years in prison in 2010 for dealing the club drug ecstasy in Billings. Because Strike served more than a year in prison, he was prohibited by federal law from possessing a gun. Strike pleaded not guilty to both charges at his arraignment Wednesday.

Zink cited Strike’s criminal history, which included counts of criminal endangerment and aggravated assault by accountability, in asking Judge Pardy for the $500,000 bond. Attorney Anna Sullivan, who represented Strike at this arraignment, asked for a $250,000 bond, saying that Strike is employed in Billings and works full-time to support his four children. Pardy set Strike’s bond at $250,000.

Last year, city and county drug task forces have recovered over 80,000 fentanyl pills during the course of their investigations, according to data supplied by the Billings Police Department, along with about 14 pounds of loose fentanyl powder. From Jan. 1 through June, the City-County Specialized Investigations Unit seized 14 grams of fentanyl powder and 32,563 pills. During that same period, BPD’s Street Crimes Unit recovered nearly 11 pounds of contraband drugs.

In the fallout of a nationwide surge in fatal overdoses starting in 2019, many of those due to fentanyl, overdose deaths finally started to decline in the fall of 2023, according to provisional data from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention. While the estimated overdose deaths in the U.S. remained at a staggering 107,000 throughout 2023, they were still down from the 111,029 deaths reported in 2022.

In Billings, Yellowstone County prosecutors have filed criminal charges against a man suspected of giving fentanyl to two people who fatally overdosed.

If convicted of criminal possession with intent to distribute, Strike could be sentenced up to 20 years in prison, while a conviction for possessing a firearm by a convicted person comes with the possibility of two to 10 years.