Bill Mercer, United States Attorney for the District of Montana, announced today that during a federal court session in Billings, on December 10, 2009, before Chief U.S. District Judge Richard F. Cebull, JOHNNY D. LAMBERT, age 26, appeared for sentencing. LAMBERT was sentenced to a term of:

• Prison: 30 months

• Special Assessment: $300

• Supervised Release: 3 years

LAMBERT was sentenced in connection with his guilty plea to possession of stolen firearms.

In an Offer of Proof filed by Special Assistant U.S. Attorney Ed Zink, the government stated it would have proved at trial the following:

As of July 7, 2008, LAMBERT was under indictment for felony theft in Yellowstone County. While under charges, he entered Western Pawnbrokers in Billings on multiple occasions and stole firearms.

On July 15, 2008, an employee called the Billings Police Department and reported the theft of two shotguns. The clerk identified LAMBERT from a photo-lineup as the suspect. A detective checked pawn transaction records for the serial numbers from the stolen guns. He discovered that LAMBERT pawned three stolen firearms at another pawn shop, between July 11th and July 15th.

Because there is no parole in the federal system, the "truth in sentencing" guidelines mandate that LAMBERT will likely serve all of the time imposed by the court. In the federal system, LAMBERT does have the opportunity to earn a sentence reduction for "good behavior." However, this reduction will not exceed 15% of the overall sentence.

The investigation was a cooperative effort between the Billings Police Department and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.

 

 

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