Dakota Bradfield Towner
Introduction
Dakota Bradfield Towner, 31, of Belgrade, Montana, was sentenced to five years and 10 months in federal prison, followed by three years of supervised release, for trafficking methamphetamine in Bozeman. The sentencing took place on October 29, 2026, according to the U.S. Attorney’s Office announcement issued the following day, which states that U.S. District Judge Kathleen S. Lane presided. Towner had pleaded guilty in June 2026 to possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine, and United States Attorney Scott Twito announced the sentence. The case against him was built on a series of controlled drug buys stretching from 2023 to 2025, and on a government allegation placing him inside a larger trafficking network run out of Red Lodge.
Background Information
The release connects Towner to that larger network only through allegations. The government alleged in court documents that Towner was a main seller of methamphetamine for Chad Allen Bachmann, who was sentenced in July 2026 to more than 18 years in prison for trafficking meth out of a storage unit in Red Lodge. The operational details that are on the record come from the investigation itself: between 2023 and 2025, the Missouri River Drug Task Force set up a series of drug buys from Towner, during which he sold varying amounts of meth to task force informants. The release describes no further details about Towner’s background, employment, or life beyond the case.
The Controversy or Incident That Led to Their Cancellation
Convicted and sentenced.
The case against Towner was built through purchases rather than a single incident. Between 2023 and 2025, the Missouri River Drug Task Force set up a series of drug buys from Towner, where he sold varying amounts of meth to task force informants. Working with Towner was Raven Renay Thompson, who told investigators that Bachmann was their source of meth. Thompson pleaded guilty to trafficking charges in August 2026 and will be sentenced on December 17. Towner himself pleaded guilty in June 2026 to possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine.
Judge Kathleen S. Lane sentenced Towner on October 29, 2026, to five years and 10 months in prison, followed by three years of supervised release. Assistant U.S. Attorney Colin Rubich prosecuted the case, and the investigation was conducted by the Eastern Montana High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area Task Force and the Missouri River Drug Task Force. The prosecution sits within Project Safe Neighborhoods, which the release describes as a key component of Operation Take Back America, the Department of Justice’s nationwide effort against violent crime.
Public Reaction and Consequences
The reaction on the record is institutional: United States Attorney Scott Twito announced the sentence, and the release frames the prosecution as part of Project Safe Neighborhoods, the DOJ’s coordination initiative operated by U.S. Attorneys’ offices in all 94 federal districts as a key component of Operation Take Back America. The release contains no victim statements, community statements, or other commentary, so no wider public reaction is described. The concrete consequences are Towner’s federal conviction, the five-years-and-10-months prison term, and the three years of supervised release that will follow it. The wider network the government says he sold within continues to move through the courts independently: Thompson awaits a December 17 sentencing, and Bachmann was sentenced to more than 18 years in July 2026.
Current Status
Towner has been convicted and sentenced. He pleaded guilty in June 2026 to possession with intent to distribute methamphetamine, and on October 29, 2026, U.S. District Judge Kathleen S. Lane sentenced him to five years and 10 months in prison followed by three years of supervised release. The release does not describe where Towner is being held, any designation decision, or any appeal, leaving the sentence as the final disposition described in the record.
Impact on Their Career/Life
The judgment pairs a five-years-and-10-months federal prison term with three years of supervised release, and it places Towner, at 31, inside a documented methamphetamine distribution chain that prosecutors alleged ran from Chad Allen Bachmann’s Red Lodge storage operation through Towner and Raven Renay Thompson to buyers in the Bozeman area. The series of task-force buys between 2023 and 2025 formed the evidentiary backbone of the case to which he pleaded guilty, and the sentence ends his role in that trade for at least the length of his prison term. The release describes no further details about his work, family, or life beyond the offenses, the allegation about his role in the Bachmann network, and the sentence.
Sources
- U.S. Attorney’s Office, District of Montana, “Belgrade man sentenced to more than 5 years prison for trafficking meth in Bozeman”, October 30, 2026 — source