Ernest William Peltzer Sentenced in U.S. District Court
The United States Attorney's Office announced that during a federal court session in Billings, on January 27, 2010, before Senior U.S. District Judge Jack D. Shanstrom, ERNEST WILLIAM PELTZER, a 49-year-old resident of Lodge Grass, appeared for sentencing. PELTZER was sentenced to a term of:
- Prison: 135 months
- Special Assessment: $100
- Supervised Release: 5 years
PELTZER was sentenced in connection with his guilty plea to aggravated sexual abuse of a minor.
In an Offer of Proof filed by Assistant U.S. Attorney Lori Harper Suek, the government stated it would have proved at trial the following:
On April 1, 2008, a female individual was interviewed on an unrelated matter. During the interview, she disclosed that she had been sexually abused by PELTZER when she was approximately 11-years-old. She stated that in February or March of 2003, while she was in foster care in Lodge Grass, PELTZER, who was a family friend of the foster care parents, digitally penetrated her vagina with his finger.
On April 28, 2009, PELTZER was interviewed and admitted that he sexually abused the victim by digitally penetrating her vagina.
Because there is no parole in the federal system, the "truth in sentencing" guidelines mandate that PELTZER will likely serve all of the time imposed by the court. In the federal system, PELTZER 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 Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Bureau of Indian Affairs.
