FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Friday, May 02, 2008
DAVID JOHN GUNSCH 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 Helena, on May 1, 2008, before Senior U.S. District Judge Charles C. Lovell, DAVID JOHN GUNSCH, a 39-year-old resident of Helena, appeared for sentencing. GUNSCH was sentenced to a term of:
- Prison: 37 months, concurrent with another sentence
- Special Assessment: $100
- Community Service: 100 hours
- Supervised Release: 3 years
GUNSCH was sentenced in connection with his guilty plea to being a felon-in-possession of firearms.
In an Offer of Proof filed by the United States, the government stated it would have proved at trial the following:
On June 6, 2003, GUNSCH was convicted of felony assault with a weapon in Lewis & Clark County. At the sentencing for his state felony conviction, the judge informed GUNSCH that he could not possess firearms. At a hearing when his suspended sentence was amended, GUNSCH was again advised that he could not possess firearms. GUNSCH also signed a state Department of Corrections notice on firearms and initialed a probation document that warned against possessing firearms.
On March 17, 2007, Lewis and Clark County Sheriff's deputies responded to a domestic violence report concerning GUNSCH and his fiancee in East Helena. The deputy sheriffs interviewed GUNSCH, who was intoxicated, in front of his home.
During a search of GUNSCH'S home, deputies found two rifles in cases underneath several sleeping bags in a storage area beneath a window seat. The rifles were a Remington model 700 .243 caliber and a Tikka model M695 .270 caliber. When questioned, GUNSCH admitted that the rifles were his. A firearms trace revealed that both rifles had been purchased by GUNSCH.
Because there is no parole in the federal system, the "truth in sentencing" guidelines mandate that GUNSCH will likely serve all of the time imposed by the court. In the federal system, GUNSCH 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 Paulette L. Stewart prosecuted the case for the United States.
The investigation was a cooperative effort between Montana Probation and Parole, the Lewis and Clark County Sheriff's Office, and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.
This conviction is yet another important outcome from Project Safe Neighborhoods, a national priority of the United States Department of Justice. PSN is designed as a partnership between federal and local law enforcement to reduce violent crime and gun-related crime through the vigorous enforcement of the criminal provisions of the federal firearms laws. In Montana, the effort under PSN is called "Catch and No Release."
