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Press Release

Missoula man sentenced for firearms, probation violation

For Immediate Release
U.S. Attorney's Office, District of Montana

MISSOULA – U.S. Attorney Kurt Alme announced that Missoula resident William Dale Newhoff, Jr. was sentenced on Nov. 16, 2018 to a total of 69 months in prison for probation and firearms violations after law enforcement officers arrested him following a high-speed chase.

Chief U.S. District Judge Dana L. Christensen sentenced Newhoff, 36, to 51 months and to three years supervised release for his conviction on being a prohibited person in possession of a firearm. Judge Christensen ordered the sentence to be consecutive to an 18-month prison sentenced imposed earlier in the day by U.S. District Judge Donald W. Molloy.

Judge Molloy sentenced Newhoff to 18 months in prison after he revoked Newhoff’s supervised release in two earlier cases in which he was convicted of two firearms violations in one case and of escape in a second case.

In January 2018, Newhoff was a federal fugitive. The Missoula County Sheriff’s Office located Newhoff in East Missoula on Jan. 30, 2018 and notified the U.S. Marshal’s Service. After a high-speed chase and extensive search, law enforcement officers arrested Newhoff in a trailer house in Missoula County. When officers found Newhoff standing behind a door, he was holding a 9mm pistol and had ammunition in his jacket pocket.  He was arrested without incident.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Cyndee L. Peterson prosecuted the firearms case, which was investigated by the U.S. Marshal’s Service, Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and the Missoula County Sheriff’s Office.

This case is part of Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN), a program bringing together federal, state, local and tribal law enforcement agencies and the communities they serve to reduce violent crime and make neighborhoods safer for everyone.  The Department of Justice reinvigorated PSN in 2017 as part of its renewed focus on targeting violent criminals.

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Contact

Clair Johnson Howard
Public Information Officer
(406) 247-4623

Updated November 19, 2018

Topic
Project Safe Neighborhoods