FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
Tuesday, July 01, 2008
DANIEL AMOS BRIDGES 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 July 1, 2008, before U.S. District Judge Sam E. Haddon, DANIEL AMOS BRIDGES, a 30-year-old resident of Wolf Point, appeared for sentencing. BRIDGES was sentenced to a term of:
- Prison: 22 months
- Special Assessment: $100
- Supervised Release: 3 years
BRIDGES was sentenced in connection with his guilty plea to being a felon-in-possession of a firearm.
In an Offer of Proof filed by the United States, the government stated it would have proved at trial the following:
On March 18, 2007, BRIDGES entered his father's residence in Wolf Point and waved a firearm in front of members of his family. BRIDGES was on probation for a 2006 felony forgery from the 15th Judicial District Court, located in Roosevelt County. The family said that he was not threatening them with the handgun, but was waving it around. Family members took the handgun from BRIDGES and hid it in the home.
Roosevelt County Sheriff's deputies responded to the scene and found BRIDGES at the home. BRIDGES' mother retrieved the gun and gave it to the officers. The gun was a Sig Sauer, 9mm pistol that had been stolen from the home of BRIDGES' brother-in-law, a reserve police officer for Poplar City.
When officers attempted to arrest BRIDGES, he got into a defensive stance. BRIDGES told officers he would knock them out if they attempted to arrest him. BRIDGES was handcuffed and placed into custody.
Because there is no parole in the federal system, the "truth in sentencing" guidelines mandate that BRIDGES will likely serve all of the time imposed by the court. In the federal system, BRIDGES 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 Vince Carroll prosecuted the case for the United States.
The investigation was a cooperative effort between the Roosevelt County Sheriff's Office and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.
