FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Tuesday, November 20, 2007
EVAN ALLEN BESTON 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 19, 2007, before U.S. District Judge Sam E. Haddon, EVAN ALLEN BESTON, a 19-year-old resident of Frazer, appeared for sentencing. BESTON was sentenced to a term of:
- Prison: 16 months, consecutive to another sentence
- Special Assessment: $100
- Restitution: $22,273.11
- Supervised Release: 5 years
BESTON was sentenced in connection with his guilty plea to arson.
In an Offer of Proof filed by the United States, the government stated it would have proved at trial the following:
In the early morning hours of June 14, 2006, fire officials and law enforcement responded to multiple structure fires in Frazer. While a police officer was at the scene of a fire at a vacant house located on Flynn Avenue in Frazer, he received a call from dispatch notifying him of a fire in a utility trailer located near the Frazer Public School. The police officer drove to the school and found the burning utility trailer. The trailer was a 20 foot structure used to ship and store construction material. As the officer inspected the trailer fire, he saw BESTON riding a dirt bike near the public school.
When interviewed, BESTON stated that he and two other males were responsible for the utility trailer fire that occurred on June 14, 2006. BESTON explained that he and the other two individuals were drinking alcohol and walking around in the Frazer area. They walked to the school where several utility trailers were located, opened one of the trailers and went inside. BESTON confessed that once they were inside, all three of the males started small fires in the trailer, closed the trailer door, and departed.
BESTON also admitted that he was responsible for the fire at the vacant house that occurred on the same night as the trailer fire. BESTON said that he and another male, who also took part in the utility trailer fire, went inside the vacant house and set it on fire. BESTON stated that he started a fire in the attic of the home with matches and then left the house.
Because there is no parole in the federal system, the "truth in sentencing" guidelines mandate that BESTON will likely serve all of the time imposed by the court. In the federal system, BESTON 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 Federal Bureau of Investigation.
