The United States Attorney's Office announced that during a federal court session in Great Falls, on December 10, 2012, before U.S. District Judge Sam E. Haddon, TROY EUGENE DAMSCHEN, a 52-year-old resident of Lewistown, appeared for sentencing. DAMSCHEN was sentenced to a term of:

Prison: 87 months

Special Assessment: $100

Supervised Release: 3 years

DAMSCHEN was sentenced in connection with his guilty plea to being a felon-in-possession of firearms and ammunition.

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:

In 1992, DAMSCHEN was convicted of felony burglary, and in 1997, he was convicted of being a felon-in-possession of a firearm. Both convictions occurred in California and thereby prohibited him from possessing firearms or ammunition.

On June 30, 2011, the Montana Division of Criminal Investigation, assisted by the Fergus County Sheriff's Office, served a search warrant of DAMSCHEN's residence in Lewistown. DAMSCHEN advised law enforcement that there was an AR-15 style rifle under his bed. During the execution of the search warrant firearms and ammunition were seized.

On July 1, 2011, a search warrant was executed on a storage unit rented by DAMSCHEN, also located in Lewistown. In that unit, multiple firearms and ammunition were located and seized.

A total of 27 firearms and over 11,000 rounds of ammunition were recovered.

Because there is no parole in the federal system, the "truth in sentencing" guidelines mandate that DAMSCHEN will likely serve all of the time imposed by the court. In the federal system, DAMSCHEN 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 Fergus County Sheriff's Office, and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.

 

 

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