FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Friday, November 09, 2007
JAMES E. RANSOM, JR. 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 Billings, on November 9, 2007, before U.S. District Judge Richard F. Cebull, JAMES E. RANSOM, JR., a 30-year-old resident of Denver/Thornton, Colorado, appeared for sentencing. RANSOM was sentenced to a term of:
- Probation: 5 years, with 6 months home detention
- Special Assessment: $100
- Restitution: $16,172.48
RANSOM was sentenced in connection with his guilty plea to willful failure to pay child support.
In an Offer of Proof filed by the United States, the government stated it would have proved at trial the following:
On or about April of 2002 and continuing through November of 2006 and currently, RANSOM willfully failed to pay his child support obligation with respect to his child who resided in a different state than him. The obligation remained unpaid for a period longer than two years and was greater than $10,000.
RANSOM is the father of a minor child, K., born in 2000. The custodial parent (the mother) of the child resides in the state of Montana. RANSOM has a child support obligation for K. in the amount of $273 per month, and resided in a state other than Montana during the pendency of the support obligation. RANSOM had notice of his support obligation for the child and failed to pay that support since April of 2002. RANSOM is currently in arrears in excess of $ 12,000 and the only funds paid were those garnished from income tax withholding in an amount less than $500 over the years. During the time period, RANSOM was employed by various employers and had bank accounts and funds with which to pay his support obligation.
Because there is no parole in the federal system, the "truth in sentencing" guidelines mandate that RANSOM will likely serve all of the time imposed by the court. In the federal system, RANSOM 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 Marcia K. Hurd prosecuted the case for the United States.
The investigation was conducted by the Inspector General's Office for the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
