The United States Attorney's Office announced that during a federal court session in Helena, on September 28, 2011, before Senior U.S. District Judge Charles C. Lovell, AUSTIN EDWARD FONK, a 23-year-old resident of Helena, appeared for sentencing. FONK was sentenced to a term of:

Prison: 44 months

Special Assessment: $100

Supervised Release: 4 years

FONK was sentenced in connection with his guilty plea to conspiracy to distribute cocaine.

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

FONK obtained substances containing cocaine from two separate sources in the Seattle, Washington area. FONK then distributed the substances containing cocaine in the Helena area to others.

The investigation revealed that FONK distributed substances containing cocaine from approximately the summer of 2009 through March 2011. During the investigation, law enforcement seized over 40 ounces of substances containing cocaine.

The DEA laboratory tested some of the substances recovered from this investigation. and confirmed that over 600 grams of the substances contained cocaine hydrochloride.

Because there is no parole in the federal system, the "truth in sentencing" guidelines mandate that FONK will likely serve all of the time imposed by the court. In the federal system, FONK 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 Helena Missouri River Drug Task Force, the Montana Division of Criminal Investigation, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Helena Police Department, the Lewis & Clark Sheriff's Office, and the Drug Enforcement Administration Lab.

 

 

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