FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Thursday, January 03, 2008
MELISSA SHUMSKY PLEADS GUILTY IN U.S. FEDERAL COURT
Bill Mercer, United States Attorney for the District of Montana, announced today that during a federal court session in Billings on January 3, 2008, before U.S. District Judge Richard F. Cebull, MELISSA SHUMSKY, a 26-year-old resident of California, pled guilty to conspiracy to possess with the intent to distribute marijuana. Sentencing is set for March 28, 2008. She is currently released on special conditions.
At the change of plea proceeding, the government stated it would have proved at trial the following:
From approximately 2004 up to and including April 25, 2005, in Billings and elsewhere, SHUMSKY engaged in a conspiracy with several other individuals to possess with the intent to distribute over 100 kilograms of marijuana, a Schedule I controlled substance.
SHUMSKY faces possible penalties of a mandatory minimum of 5 years in prison and could be sentenced to the maximum of 40 years in prison, a $2,000,000 fine and 4 years supervised release.
Assistant U.S. Attorney James E. Seykora prosecuted the case for the United States.
The investigation was a cooperative effort between the Drug Enforcement Administration, the U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement and the High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area (HIDTA) Task Force.
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