FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Friday, November 09, 2007
JAMES ERIC CASE 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 9, 2007, before Chief U.S. District Judge Donald W. Molloy, JAMES ERIC CASE, a resident of Lincoln, appeared for sentencing. CASE was sentenced to a term of:
- Prison: 16 months
- Special Assessment: $100
- Supervised Release: 3 years
CASE was sentenced in connection with his guilty plea to possession of stolen firearms.
In an Offer of Proof filed by the United States, the government stated it would have proved at trial the following:
On November 3, 2005, the owner of a cabin located near Lincoln filed a report with the Lewis and Clark County Sheriff's Office that firearms had been stolen from his cabin sometime between October 27, 2005, and November 3, 2005.
On November 5, 2005, deputies from the Lewis and Clark County Sheriff's Office began an investigation into a shooting in Lincoln. During the course of the investigation deputies learned that CASE, Jessey Lee Charles Decelles, and another individual were in possession of two of the stolen firearms.
When questioned, Decelles, CASE, and the other individual admitted to burglarizing the cabin. Initially, all the property, including a rifle and shotgun, were stored in CASE'S apartment. Ultimately, Decelles took and kept the rifle, and the other individual took and kept the shotgun. The rifle was recovered from the CASE'S apartment during the shooting investigation, however the shotgun was never recovered.
Decelles pled guilty and has been sentenced.
Because there is no parole in the federal system, the "truth in sentencing" guidelines mandate that CASE will likely serve all of the time imposed by the court. In the federal system, CASE 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 S. Stewart prosecuted the case for the United States.
The investigation was a cooperative effort between the Lewis and Clark County Sheriff's Office 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."
