FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Monday, November 05, 2007
JEREMY DRAKE KEISER 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 Great Falls, on November 5, 2007, before U.S. District Judge Sam E. Haddon, JEREMY DRAKE KEISER, a 26-year-old resident of Wolf Point, appeared for sentencing. KEISER was sentenced to a term of:
- Prison: 37 months
- Special Assessment: $100
- Supervised Release: 3 years
KEISER was sentenced in connection with his guilty plea to being a felon-in-possession of a ammunition.
In an Offer of Proof filed by the United States, the government stated it would have proved at trial the following:
On February 19, 2004 KEISER was convicted in federal district court of "assault resulting in serious bodily injury" and was thereby prohibited from possessing firearms or ammunition.
On August 10, 2006, KEISER was on supervised release as a result of the above mentioned conviction. He, along with several other individuals, was a passenger in a vehicle that was struck by a train in Wolf Point. When police officers responded to the scene, they found a Sears Model .22 caliber rifle lying on the floorboard of the damaged vehicle. There was also a spent Federal brand, .22 caliber casing lying on the floorboard.
KEISER was taken to the Wolf Point Hospital in Wolf Point for examination following the vehicle accident. While KEISER was lying on a stretcher in a hospital treatment room, four (4) cartridges of Federal .22 caliber rim fire ammunition fell out of his pocket and onto the stretcher. After KEISER was removed from the stretcher, in order to be transported to the x-ray room, a registered nurse who had treated KEISER discovered the four (4) rounds of ammunition lying on the stretcher. The nurse at the hospital subsequently delivered the four (4) rounds of ammunition to the officer investigating the accident. The nurse identified KEISER as the person who had possessed the ammunition.
KEISER departed the hospital and went into the parking lot where he was approached by the officer. When the officer showed KEISER the rounds of Federal .22 caliber rim fire ammunition and asked KEISER if the ammunition belonged to him, KEISER stated "yeah," acknowledging that he had possessed the ammunition.
Because there is no parole in the federal system, the "truth in sentencing" guidelines mandate that KEISER will likely serve all of the time imposed by the court. In the federal system, KEISER 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 Richard A. Hosley prosecuted the case for the United States.
The investigation was a cooperative effort between the Fort Peck Tribes Criminal Investigation Division and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.
This conviction is yet another important outcome from Project Safe Neighborhoods, a national priority of the United States Department of Justice. PSN is designed as a partnership between federal and local law enforcement to reduce violent crime and gun-related crime through the vigorous enforcement of the criminal provisions of the federal firearms laws. In Montana, the effort under PSN is called "Catch and No Release."
