Big Sandy man sentenced to year in prison on gun crime after high-speed chase

GREAT FALLS—Big Sandy resident Joe Don Demontiney, who admitted to illegally possessing a firearm, was sentenced to one year and one day in prison and to three years of supervised release on May 30, U.S. Attorney Kurt Alme said.

Demontiney, 37, pleaded guilty in January to being a felon in possession of a firearm.

U.S. District Judge Brian M. Morris presided.

The prosecution said in court records that Demontiney led the Montana Highway Patrol on a high-speed chase that began on May 23, 2018 on Highway 87 between Big Sandy and Box Elder. The trooper saw a large cloud of black smoke coming from the rear of a Honda Civic that Demontiney was driving and thought the car was on fire. The trooper pursued the Honda, which had been stolen in Great Falls three days earlier. Speeds reached at least 98 mph before Demontiney finally came to a stop on a county road. Inside the vehicle, the trooper saw drug paraphernalia and a black pry bar. Ultimately, the trooper seized a semi-automatic rifle and a semi-automatic pistol from the car. Demontiney, who had a prior felony conviction in state District Court, was prohibited from possessing firearms.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Jessica Betley prosecuted the case, which was investigated by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and the Montana Highway Patrol.

The case is part of Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN), which is the centerpiece of the Department of Justice’s violent crime reduction efforts.  PSN is an evidence-based program proven to be effective at reducing violent crime. Through PSN, a broad spectrum of stakeholders work together to identify the most pressing violent crime problems in the community and develop comprehensive solutions to address them. As part of this strategy, PSN focuses enforcement efforts on the most violent offenders and partners with locally based prevention and reentry programs for lasting reductions in crime.

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