The United States Attorney's Office announced that during a federal court session in Billings, on August 22, 2012, before Chief U.S. District Judge Richard F. Cebull, JUSTIN ROY SMITH, a 29-year-old resident of Laurel, appeared for sentencing. SMITH was sentenced to a term of:

Prison: 40 months

Special Assessment: $100

Supervised Release: 3 years

SMITH was sentenced in connection with his guilty plea to conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine.

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

SMITH came to the attention of law enforcement in Big Horn County and on the Crow and Northern Cheyenne Reservations as a distributor of methamphetamine for another individual beginning in approximately 2006.

SMITH was on state probation for a drug offense in 2011, when it appeared that he was continuing to obtain methamphetamine from this individual and redistributing it. When questioned, SMITH admitted that he had been getting methamphetamine from this individual for the past year and redistributing it to others for profit as he had a hard time paying his bills.

Because there is no parole in the federal system, the "truth in sentencing" guidelines mandate that SMITH will likely serve all of the time imposed by the court. In the federal system, SMITH 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 Montana Division of Criminal Investigation, the Bureau of Indian Affairs, and the Drug Enforcement Administration.

 

 

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