A Billings man was sentenced Friday to nearly a century in prison for killing a man in a drive-by shooting last year.

Loren Cody Smoker went into his homicide trial earlier this year never denying that he’d shot and killed Dennis Fabian Rolon. Friends and family of Rolon were present Friday in Yellowstone County District Court to testify that he was a role model and a source of support.

Yellowstone County prosecutors described Rolon’s death as senseless and preventable in their sentencing recommendation filed in district court. Smoker, 25, argued that he chased Rolon and two others after losing a fistfight, shooting him in self-defense. He won’t be eligible for parole until he’s at least 46 years old.

In June 2024, Smoker was in Downtown Billings, where he met a man named Javon Edwards

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