East Helena man sentenced for illegal guns, methamphetamine threats

Federal authorities on Jan. 8 sentenced Justin Curtis Huckaby, 44, of East Helena to 28 months in prison followed by three years of supervised release after a September 2025 jury convicted him on two counts of a prohibited person in possession of a firearm and ammunition. Chief U.S. District Judge Brian M. Morris imposed the sentence in a case prosecuted by the U.S. Attorney’s Office.

The conviction and sentence grew out of an incident in which law enforcement contacted Huckaby while he sat in a white Chevrolet pickup parked outside a casino. Court records and trial evidence show Huckaby had been convicted of a felony in Montana’s Thirteenth Judicial District on June 5, 2019, and that his judgment of conviction explicitly prohibited him from possessing, using, transferring, or controlling any firearm or ammunition while under supervision with the Department of Corrections.

During the contact, officers saw a glass pipe with burnt residue on the truck’s center console; the pipe later field-tested positive for methamphetamine. A probation search of the vehicle turned up a loaded 9mm handgun under the driver’s rear passenger seat and a box of 9mm ammunition in a backpack. Prosecutors said Huckaby admitted touching and handling the firearm earlier that day. Court filings also detailed a threat in which Huckaby told someone he would shoot them after suspecting that person had taken an 8-ball of methamphetamine and money he had won at other casinos that evening.

The investigation was conducted by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, the Lewis and Clark County Sheriff’s Office, and the State of Montana Probation and Parole. The prosecution reinforces federal and local enforcement of firearm prohibitions for individuals serving terms of supervision and highlights the cooperation between federal and county authorities in Lewis and Clark County.

For local residents, the case points to two public-safety realities: the ongoing intersection of substance use, gambling activity and violence risk in some settings, and the active role of probation and parole conditions in preventing firearms access among convicted felons. The removal of a loaded firearm from someone on supervised release likely reduced an immediate risk of violence in the community and demonstrates how probation searches and cross-agency investigations can produce federal charges.

The takeaway? Keep an eye on neighborhood safety and report threats or suspicious activity to law enforcement. Our two cents? Enforcement is only one part of public safety—community reporting and resources for people reentering society also matter if Lewis and Clark County hopes to reduce repeat offenses and keep neighborhoods safer.