William Forrest Paul Sentenced In U.S. District Court

The United States Attorney's Office announced that during a federal court session in Missoula, on August 8, 2013, before Chief U.S. District Judge Dana L. Christensen, WILLIAM FORREST PAUL, a 29-year-old resident of Butte, was sentenced to a term of:

Prison: 120 months

Special Assessment: $100

Supervised Release: 5 years

PAUL was sentenced in connection with his guilty plea to conspiracy to distribute 500 or more grams of methamphetamine.

In an Offer of Proof filed by Assistant U.S. Attorney Timothy J. Racicot, the government stated it would have proved at trial the following:

Since November 2010, agents from Homeland Security Investigations and the Butte Silver Bow Law Enforcement Agency have been investigating the distribution of methamphetamine in and around Butte by PAUL and others, including Gary Sheffield, Julie White, Angella Parker, Michael Young, and Paul Tizio.

On January 5, 2011, based on information obtained during that investigation, law enforcement officers searched Sheffield's car and the Sheffield/White residence in Butte. From the house they seized baggies of meth, surveillance cameras, drug paraphernalia, and a Fed-Ex receipt with Parker's name on it. The officers found more meth in Sheffield's possession during a search of his person and his car outside a nearby casino.

Also on January 5, 2011, before the search of Sheffield and White's residence, Parker was stopped for a traffic violation and admitted to having just purchased an "8-ball" of meth from Sheffield. She also admitted that during the course of the conspiracy she had received packages of methamphetamine from Tizio in Arizona that were intended for Sheffield and had shipped money to Arizona as payment for the drugs.

Following the events of January 5, 2011, law enforcement officers conducted interviews of various witnesses and learned that Tizio was obtaining methamphetamine in Arizona and shipping or otherwise arranging for the transportation of the drugs to Butte. In order to pay for the meth, money was shipped back to Tizio in Arizona, delivered to him in person, or deposited into his bank account. PAUL's role in the conspiracy was two-fold. He assisted in the transportation of methamphetamine and money between Arizona and Butte, and he also distributed quantities of methamphetamine in and around Butte that he and Sheffield had received from Tizio in Arizona. Among the records that law enforcement obtained during the investigation was a FedEx airbill documenting PAUL's shipment of a package to Tizio on November 18, 2010.

Gary Sheffield, Julie White, Angella Parker, Michael Young, and Paul Tizio pled guilty to federal charges and have been sentenced.

Because there is no parole in the federal system, the "truth in sentencing" guidelines mandate that PAUL will likely serve all of the time imposed by the court. In the federal system, PAUL 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 a cooperative effort between Homeland Security Investigations, the Butte-Silver Bow Law Enforcement Agency and the Silver Bow County Sheriff's Office.