A Fortine man is facing a possible mandatory minimum 10-year sentence or up to life imprisonment and a $20 million fine after he was charged with two counts of felony federal distribution of methamphetamine on Nov. 6.

Timothy Patrick Pine II, 36, was indicted by a grand jury in U.S. District Court in Billings for allegedly dealing more than 50 grams of meth with two other people in a scheme that reached across the state, including Miles City, Missoula and Kalispell.

The alleged dealing took place between January and June this year.

According to a citation originally filed in Missoula County Justice Court, Pine agreed to meet undercover agents working on a multi-agency law enforcement team and sell them a quarter-pound of meth for $6,000.

On May 12, Pine sent officers a text message telling them to meet at Ruby’s Inn in Missoula with a delivery person. The two delivery people working with Pine yelled out to officers “Motel 6” and sped off during the delivery. The undercover agents went to the motel and were able to purchase $6,000 worth of meth from Pine.

On June 3, another undercover investigator arranged a $10,000 buy from Pine’s co-conspirators for a half-pound of meth. Officers stopped the suspected delivery vehicle before it reached the agreed meeting spot and observed an 8-year-old child buckled in to a toddler’s seat.

A man and woman were taken into custody.

One of the co-conspirators, Francisco Gutierrez (also known as Ronald Moises Gomez) said he was not a U.S. citizen and admitted running drugs for Pine, who went by the drug dealer name “Montana.”

The woman, Rachel Ruiz, the mother of the 8-year-old in the car, also admitted to her part in selling drugs for Pine.

Officers searched the woman’s car and found that one pound of methamphetamine had been screwed into a secret compartment of the car seat the 8-year-old had been riding in.

Gutierrez and Ruiz were charged in Missoula County for the crimes.

Reporter Megan Strickland can be reached at 758-4459 or mstrickland@dailyinterlake.com.