The United States Attorney's Office announced that during a federal court session in Missoula, on August 9, 2013, before Chief U.S. District Judge Dana L. Christensen, RONALD JAY MILLER, a 56-year-old resident of Helena, was sentenced to a term of:

Prison: 120 months, consecutive to another sentence

Special Assessment: $100

Forfeiture: computer and firearms

Supervised Release: 20 years

MILLER was sentenced in connection with his guilty plea to access with the intent to view child pornography.

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:

From approximately 2011 until October 18, 2012, MILLER accessed visual depictions of children engaged in sexually explicit conduct on his computer.

Montana Probation and Parole conducted a probation search of MILLER's residence on October 18, 2012, in reference to his possession of firearms at his residence. At that time, MILLER's computer and a number of floppy discs were seized.

While looking for information on MILLER's computer and floppy discs for firearm information, law enforcement located an image of a child engaged in sexually explicit conduct. Forensic examination revealed that MILLER accessed images and videos containing children engaged in sexually explicit conduct using his computer and the Internet. The Internet access dates were between approximately June 2011 and October 2012.

Because there is no parole in the federal system, the "truth in sentencing" guidelines mandate that MILLER will likely serve all of the time imposed by the court. In the federal system, MILLER 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 conducted by the Montana Probation and Parole.