Lodge Grass felon sentenced to two and one-half years in prison for illegally possessing firearm

BILLINGS  —A Lodge Grass man who admitted to illegally possessing a firearm because of prior felony convictions was sentenced today to two and one-half years in prison, to be followed by three years of supervised release, U.S. Attorney Jesse Laslovich said.

Paul Nomee III, 61, pleaded guilty in August to felon in possession of a firearm.

U.S. District Judge Susan P. Watters presided.

In court documents, the government alleged that on Jan. 11, the Bureau of Indian Affairs responded to a report of a car that had crashed outside of Crow Agency, on the Crow Indian Reservation. While en route, the officer passed a vehicle with significant damage and matching the description in the report. Nomee was driver and only occupant. The officer believed Nomee had active tribal arrest warrants and took him into custody. Nomee told the officer he had a pistol in a shoulder holster he was wearing. The officer found a loaded pistol in the holster. Nomee had two prior felony convictions and was prohibited from possessing firearms.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Lori Harper Suek prosecuted the case. The BIA and Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives conducted the investigation.

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