FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Thursday, November 01, 2007
DARREN JAMES HELLMAN SENTENCED IN U.S. DISTRICT COURT
Bill Mercer, United States Attorney for the District of Montana, announced today that during a federal court session in Missoula, on November 1, 2007, before Chief U.S. District Judge Donald W. Molloy, DARREN JAMES HELLMAN, a 38-year-old resident of the Bozeman/Belgrade area, appeared for sentencing. HELLMAN was sentenced to a term of:
- Community Confinement: 6months
- Special Assessment: $100
- Supervised Release: 5 years
HELLMAN was sentenced in connection with his guilty plea to being a subject of a court order in possession of firearms and false impersonation of a United States Marshal.
In an Offer of Proof filed by the United States, the government stated it would have proved at trial the following:
On February 10, 2007, members of the Belgrade Police Department received a complaint regarding a man pretending to be a United States Marshal. During their investigation of the complaint, they arrested HELLMAN who lived below the complainants in an apartment building. At that time, they recovered a silver Taurus .357 caliber pistol.
At this time HELLMAN had a valid permanent order of protection against him that qualifies under the federal statute. The order was dated March 21, 2002, from the City of Bozeman by the Gallatin County Justice Court. HELLMAN had attended the hearing held March 21, 2002, before the Justice of the Peace.
During the investigation, HELLMAN admitted that he possessed two additional long guns at his storage unit in Belgrade. A Remington 7mm magnum caliber rifle was recovered from HELLMAN'S storage unit on March 8, 2007. HELLMAN admitted his possession of the pistol and the rifle. He stated that he got rid of his shotgun in December of 2006. He also stated that he knew a restraining order was still in effect because, "It's permanent."
Because there is no parole in the federal system, the "truth in sentencing" guidelines mandate that HELLMAN will likely serve all of the time imposed by the court. In the federal system, HELLMAN does have the opportunity to earn a sentence reduction for "good behavior." However, this reduction will not exceed 15% of the overall sentence.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Paulette L. Stewart prosecuted the case for the United States.
The investigation was a cooperative effort between the Belgrade Police Department, the U.S. Marshals Service, and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.
