FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Tuesday, January 22, 2008
TERRY ALAN ENSMINGER 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 22, 2008, before U.S. District Judge Richard F. Cebull, TERRY ALAN ENSMINGER, a 34-year-old resident of Billings, pled guilty to failure to register as a sexual offender. Sentencing is set for April 17, 2008. He is currently detained.
In an Offer of Proof filed by the United States, the government stated it would have proved at trial the following:
On June 11, 1999, ENSMINGER was convicted of third degree assault with sexual motivation, a felony, in the Superior Court of Washington, County of Spokane. ENSMINGER was sentenced to 6 months in jail with 12 months of community supervision to follow. He served his jail time, then was released on supervision in Washington. ENSMINGER was required to be registered as a sexual offender as part of the judgment and knew of that requirement. He also was informed that he needed to provide written notice of any change in address.
ENSMINGER last filled out a sexual offender registration form on August 24, 2007, in Washington, wherein he notified the county of his registration address in Spokane.
ENSMINGER ultimately traveled to Montana shortly thereafter, where he resided in the Billings area. ENSMINGER failed to register at any time in Montana.
On October 17, 2007, the United States Marshals Service received information that ENSMINGER was believed to have left his last known registered address in Spokane, Washington, and was residing in the Billings area. ENSMINGER was then arrested on an outstanding warrant for failure to register as a sexual offender out of Spokane County, Washington.
The Montana Sexual and Violent Offender Registry confirmed that ENSMINGER had not registered as required by law and the Yellowstone County Sheriff's also verified that he had not registered through their office. The Montana Sexual and Violent Offender Registry confirmed that ENSMINGER is currently out of compliance with Montana's Sexual Offender Registry requirements and has been so since entering Montana in approximately September of 2007.
ENSMINGER faces possible penalties of 10 years in prison, a $250,000 fine and 3 years supervised release.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Marcia K. Hurd prosecuted the case for the United States.
The investigation was conducted by the U.S. Marshals Service.
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A copy of the Offer of Proof can be obtained by contacting Sally Frank at (406) 247-4638.
