Heidi Aragon 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 October 22, 2009, before Chief U.S. District Judge Richard F. Cebull, HEIDI ARAGON, a 21-year-old resident of New Mexico, appeared for sentencing. ARAGON was sentenced to a term of:
- Prison: 20 months
- Special Assessment: $100
- Supervised Release: 4 years
ARAGON was sentenced in connection with his guilty plea to distribution of methamphetamine.
In an Offer of Proof filed by the United States, the government stated it would have proved at trial the following:
On November 20, 2008, a search warrant was executed at ARAGON'S motel room in Billings. Methamphetamine and approximately $25,000 in U.S. currency, as well as documents with ARAGON'S name on them were seized. Approximately $700 of the $25,000 was pre-recorded money from a controlled buy.
When arrested on March 2, 2009, ARAGON admitted distributing approximately one ounce of methamphetamine to an individual in Billings in November of 2008.
Because there is no parole in the federal system, the "truth in sentencing" guidelines mandate that ARAGON will likely serve all of the time imposed by the court. In the federal system, ARAGON 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 James E. Seykora prosecuted the case for the United States.
The investigation was conducted by the Billings Big Sky Safe Streets Task Force.
