FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Thursday, November 15, 2007
CODY GORDON CARLSEN 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 15, 2007, before U.S. District Judge Sam E. Haddon, CODY GORDON CARLSEN, a 27-year-old resident of Poplar/Ritchey, appeared for sentencing. CARLSEN was sentenced to a term of:
- Prison: 46 months, consecutive to another sentence
- Special Assessment: $100
- Supervised Release: 3 years
CARLSEN was sentenced in connection with his guilty plea to being a felon-in-possession of a firearm.
In an Offer of Proof filed by the United States, the government stated it would have proved at trial the following:
On August 18, 2002, CARLSEN was convicted of felony theft and felony criminal mischief and was under the supervision of the Department of Corrections for the State of Montana.
On August 27, 2006, a bartender at a bar in Poplar refused to serve CARLSEN alcohol because CARLSEN was already intoxicated. Before being kicked out of the bar, CARLSEN lifted up his shirt to another bar patron to reveal a pistol tucked in CARLSEN'S pants.
At approximately 2:30 a.m., a Roosevelt County deputy received a dispatch that there was a possible drunk driver in a white car heading east on U.S. Highway 2 towards Culbertson. The car was being followed by a caller who said the car was driving in the wrong lane. The deputy identified the white car as a Buick which had no license plates. The driver was crossing the center line continuously and was unable to keep a steady speed. The deputy turned on his light bar to conduct a traffic stop, but the driver, later identified as CARLSEN, refused to stop his car and attempted to evade the officers. A vehicle chase ensued for over an hour. A Montana Highway Patrol officer was dispatched and took the lead behind CARLSEN'S car throughout the chase which ended in North Dakota.
CARLSEN'S car tires were spiked on three separate occasions and he was arrested in North Dakota. CARLSEN'S car was searched and officers found two loaded firearms. They were a Harrington and Richardson (H&R) Model 676, .22 caliber revolver and a Winchester Model 94, .30-.30 caliber lever action rifle.
Because there is no parole in the federal system, the "truth in sentencing" guidelines mandate that CARLSEN will likely serve all of the time imposed by the court. In the federal system, CARLSEN 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 Montana Highway Patrol, the Roosevelt County Sheriff's Office, the North Dakota Highway Patrol, 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."
