FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Thursday, November 15, 2007
JOHN C. JETTER 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 15, 2007, before U.S. Magistrate Judge Jeremiah C. Lynch, JOHN C. JETTER, a 26-year-old resident of Bozeman, appeared for sentencing. JETTER was sentenced to a term of:
- Probation: 18 months
- Special Assessment: $25
- Restitution: $597 and $800 Attorney Fees
JETTER was sentenced in connection with his guilty plea to willfully damaging government property.
In an Offer of Proof filed by the United States, the government stated it would have proved at trial the following:
On May 4, 2002, two individuals heard several gun shots in the North Meadow Creek area on the Beaverhead-Deerlodge National Forest. Those same individuals later observed a greenish-blue Ford Explorer driving away from the direction of the shooting and identified the occupants of the vehicle as two men in their early to mid-20s. Both males were in possession of firearms. When the individuals departed the area, they noticed large holes in a Forest Service sign and blue shotgun shells under the sign. They recalled that the sign had been intact when they passed it earlier in the day, before the shooting commenced. They phoned the authorities and filed a complaint concerning the damaged sign.
A Montana Department of Fish, Wildlife and Parks warden responded to the North Meadow Creek area to investigate the shooting. He interviewed the complainants and collected several shotgun shells that appeared to have been fired at the Forest Service sign. He also observed that additional signs in the area had been damaged by gunfire. During the course of his investigation, he encountered JETTER and another individual. He observed that the men had a shotgun and a .22-caliber rifle in their possession, as well as another long gun. He also observed a box of .22-caliber shells in a red box, a box of shotgun shells, and several blue shotgun shells that were the same brand as the shells he retrieved from under the damaged signs. JETTER admitted to the warden that the shotgun belonged to him.
On May 6, 2002, a Forest Service Law Enforcement officer returned to the North Meadow Creek area to continue to investigate the vandalized signs. He gathered additional shotgun and .22-caliber shell casings and determined that 12 signs had been damaged by gunfire.
On May 11, 2002, law enforcement officers executed search warrants at JETTER'S residence, the other individual's residence, and 1992 teal-green Ford Explorer. They seized four 22.-caliber firearms from the other individual's residence and two .22-caliber firearms and two 12-gauge shotguns from JETTER'S residence. Numerous rounds of ammunition were also seized. The firearms and ammunition, as well as the spent casings collected from the scene of the shootings, were submitted to the Montana State Crime Lab for forensic analysis on May 16, 2002.
On February 22, 2006, the Crime Lab advised that nearly all of the spent ammunition collected from the scenes of the damaged signs were functioned through one of the shotguns seized from JETTER'S residence or fired from various .22-caliber firearms seized from both JETTER'S and the other individual's residences.
The Forest Service replaced all 12 damaged signs at a total cost of $1,194.20.
Because there is no parole in the federal system, the "truth in sentencing" guidelines mandate that JETTER will likely serve all of the time imposed by the court. In the federal system, JETTER 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 Timothy J. Racicot prosecuted the case for the United States.
The investigation was a cooperative effort between the Montana Department of Fish, Wildlife and Parks, the Law Enforcement and Investigations Division of the Forest Service, and the Office of the Inspector General for the Department of Agriculture.
