Friends and family of the victim said he was an avid snowboarder with dreams of returning full-time to his hometown of Anaconda and starting his own concrete business. They described him as the friend who always paid for drinks and made sure everyone was safe on the mountain during snowboarding trips.

Stephens, the defense attorney, noted Smathers’ role in taking drugs the night he died.

“Two boys were together, they were both ingesting mushrooms together,” he said. “You cannot simply point the hand of guilt on Billy Kenney without recognizing that the two of them were together and involved in an illegal activity that got completely out of hand.”

When it was his turn to speak, Kenney apologized to Smathers’ family and said while he didn’t know Smathers long, he was “an amazing friend.”

“Not a day goes by that I don’t think of him and wish I could change what happened that night,” Kenney said.

Kenney’s criminal history includes two partner or family member assault convictions, an assault and a DUI. He’d used psilocybin mushrooms since age 18, according to the judge, and had been through various addiction treatment programs three times.

"My conclusion is, Mr. Kenney, you've been playing with fire a long time and it finally exploded on you," the judge said. "And as a result of that, a very fine young man is dead."

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