Illegal possession of sawed-off shotgun sends Billings man to prison

BILLINGS—Billings resident Randy Dwayne Watts, who admitted to illegal possession of a sawed off shotgun, was sentenced on Wednesday to 57 months in prison and to three years of supervised release, said U.S. Attorney Kurt Alme.

Watts, 51, pleaded guilty in October to being a prohibited person in possession of firearms.

U.S. District Judge Susan Watters presided.

Watts was indicted after a traffic stop on Jan. 17, 2018 in which a Yellowstone County Sheriff’s deputy pulled over a vehicle that ran a red light. Watts was in the front passenger seat. A loaded, sawed off shotgun was visible between Watts and the door. The driver said the car belonged to Watts, and Watts claimed not to know there were any guns in the car. On the rear driver’s side floorboard was a loaded .22-caliber pistol. Watts was arrested on warrants. A K-9 dog altered to the car and a search warrant was obtained. Law enforcement officers found six baggies containing a total of about 12 grams of methamphetamine. Watts was prohibited form possessing firearms because of previous convictions in California and Montana.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Tom Godfrey prosecuted the case, which was investigated by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.

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.