The United States Attorney's Office announced that during a federal court session in Billings, on October 13, 2011, before Chief U.S. District Judge Richard F. Cebull, MICHAEL JOSEPH DELACRUZ, a 32-year-old resident of Billings, appeared for sentencing. DELACRUZ was sentenced to a term of:

Prison: 120 months

Special Assessment: $100

Supervised Release: 3 years

DELACRUZ was sentenced after a federal district court trial in which he was found guilty of being a felon-in-possession of a firearm. Special Assistant U.S. Attorney Ed Zink prosecuted the case for the United States.

Because there is no parole in the federal system, the "truth in sentencing" guidelines mandate that DELACRUZ will likely serve all of the time imposed by the court. In the federal system, DELACRUZ 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.

 

 

Return to Top