FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Wednesday, January 23, 2008
JOHN STEVEN BIGBACK 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 Billings, on January 23, 2008, before Senior U.S. District Judge Jack D. Shanstrom, JOHN STEVEN BIGBACK, a 21-year-old resident of Lame Deer, appeared for sentencing. BIGBACK was sentenced to a term of:
- Prison: 168 months
- Special Assessment: $100
- Supervised Release: life
BIGBACK was sentenced in connection with his guilty plea to aggravated sexual abuse.
In an Offer of Proof filed by the United States, the government stated it would have proved at trial the following:
During the early morning hours of October 14, 2006, the victim was walking through the west side of Lame Deer when an unidentified male, later identified as BIGBACK, began following her. The victim entered an abandoned house and BIGBACK followed her into the house. The victim turned on the lights in the house and BIGBACK turned them off. This happened a couple of times. Then BIGBACK grabbed the victim. The victim responded by telling BIGBACK, "Don't" and "Put me down." BIGBACK put the victim on the floor and sexually assaulted her.
The victim fled the abandoned house and telephoned her mother from a convenience store in Lame Deer, and asked her mother to come and pick her up because "something happened." The victim's mother picked her up a short time later. The victim was hysterical and crying when her mother picked her up. Her mother noticed that she had bruises on her body.
BIGBACK was interviewed several times. BIGBACK finally admitted that he did have sexual intercourse with the victim even though she protested and tried to physically resist him. He also admitted that the victim told him to stop twice when he was having sexual intercourse with her.
Because there is no parole in the federal system, the "truth in sentencing" guidelines mandate that BIGBACK will likely serve all of the time imposed by the court. In the federal system, BIGBACK 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 Lori Harper Suek prosecuted the case for the United States.
The investigation was conducted by the Federal Bureau of Investigation.
