The U.S. Marshal's Violent Offender Task Force arrested Wednesday three men on probation violations in the Billings area.

Task force officers learned that two wanted men, Robert Black, 40, and Willie Williams, 49, frequented a home at 3118 Third Ave. S., Chief Deputy Rod Ostermiller said in a written statement.

Black was wanted on a probation violation for failing to report while on probation. He is on probation for a 2008 conviction of criminal possession of dangerous drugs. Williams is on probation for failing to register as a violent offender, Ostermiller said, which he violated by using methamphetamine.

Task force members watched the home and learned that at least one of the men was inside and, after entering, found both of them. Officers also found several Hydrocodone pills, two grams of methamphetamine and a glass pipe, Ostermiller said. Black and Williams were arrested without incident.

Williams was convicted in 1980 of murdering a Missoula man, pleaded guilty to two felony assault charges in 1994 for the beating of a woman and stabbing of a man in downtown Billings, was sentenced in Yellowstone County in 2004 and 2007 for failing to register as a violent offender and was convicted of partner or family member assault in 2007.

Black's criminal history includes felony convictions in 2001 and 2008 for criminal possession and one in 2001 for issuing a bad check, all out of Yellowstone County.

Also on Wednesday, task force members arrested Michael Simington, 31, for probation violation at the Pelican Truck Stop Motel in Laurel. When officers arrested him, they also found drug paraphernalia.

Ostermiller said Simington has a criminal history that includes convictions for criminal mischief, probation violation and criminal endangerment and is required to register in Montana as a sexual or violent offender.

All three men were arrested without incident and the investigation wrapped up by about 2 p.m., Ostermiller said. They were booked into the Yellowstone County Detention Facility.