FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Monday, November 26, 2007
KAREN DAWN GOOD TRACK 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 26, 2007, before U.S. District Judge Sam E. Haddon, KAREN DAWN GOOD TRACK, a 26-year-old resident of Poplar, appeared for sentencing. GOOD TRACK was sentenced to a term of:
- Prison: 64 months
- Special Assessment: $100
- Restitution: $191,050.64
- Supervised Release: 5 years
GOOD TRACK was sentenced in connection with her 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 January 23, 2007, the residents of a home in Poplar awoke to find their house on fire. The residents of the home were asleep inside when the fire started. All of the people were able to escape the burning home, but the family house cat was killed in the fire.
A Deputy State Fire Marshal from the Montana Department of Justice, Fire Prevention and Investigation Section, conducted an investigation of the house fire. The fire investigator determined that the fire originated in the attached garage and spread to the living areas of the home. Additionally, the fire spread to and burned an automobile that was parked outside of the home and also caused damage to a house located next door. The fire investigator also determined that there were no accidental ignition sources available in the area of origin and thus surmised that the fire was most likely the result of arson.
Criminal Investigators from the Fort Peck Tribes and Special Agents from the Federal Bureau of Investigation (FBI) conducted a criminal investigation into the cause of the fire. During the criminal inquiry, investigators interviewed two witnesses who said that they spoke with GOOD TRACK on the night of the house fire. The witnesses told investigators that GOOD TRACK came to their home in the early morning hours of January 23, 2007, and asked if she could borrow paper. GOOD TRACK took several sheets of paper and a can of hair spray from their house and departed.
The witnesses told investigators that GOOD TRACK returned to their home approximately an hour later. From their porch, the witnesses could see the residence that was on fire. GOOD TRACK drove up in a car and announced that she had set fire to some papers and thrown them on a mattress in the garage attached to the house. GOOD TRACK told them she did this because one of the residents of the home had accused her father of being a child molester. GOOD TRACK said that if "anyone is going to narc on me, then their house will be set on fire" or words to that effect.
On January 23, 2007, GOOD TRACK was interviewed. She stated that she had an argument with a male individual living at that residence sometime prior to the fire. During that argument, the male accused GOOD TRACK'S father of being a child molester. GOOD TRACK was angered by this comment and on January 23, 2007, she went to the home of a friend and acquired paper and hair spray. GOOD TRACK stated she then took the paper and hair spray went into the open garage attached to the home and sprayed the paper with the hair spray. She then used a lighter to set fire to the paper and placed the burning paper onto a mattress that was in the garage. The mattress caught fire and the fire spread to the garage and attached house.
Because there is no parole in the federal system, the "truth in sentencing" guidelines mandate that GOOD TRACK will likely serve all of the time imposed by the court. In the federal system, GOOD TRACK 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, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, and the Montana Department of Justice Fire Prevention and Investigation Division.
