Merlin Jay Brady Sentenced in U.S. District Court
Bill Mercer, United States Attorney for the District of Montana, announced today that during a federal court session in Billings, on March 18, 2009, before Senior U.S. District Judge Jack D. Shanstrom, MERLIN JAY BRADY, a 39-year-old resident of Billings/Lame Deer, appeared for sentencing. BRADY was sentenced to a term of:
- Prison: 24 months
- Special Assessment: $100
- Supervised Release: 5 years
BRADY was sentenced in connection with his guilty plea to failure to register as a sexual offender.
In an Offer of Proof filed by the United States, the government stated it would have proved at trial the following:
In July of 2008, the U.S. Marshals Service received information that BRADY was not residing at his registered address in Billings.
On September 25, 1992, in U.S. District Court in Billings, BRADY was convicted of voluntary manslaughter and sexual abuse of a child, both felonies. BRADY was sentenced to 188 months in prison for sexually abusing and killing AT, age 13 months. He served his prison time, and then was released under supervision. BRADY was required to register as a sexual offender as part of the judgment and sentence and knew of that requirement.
In May 2008, BRADY registered using the address of the Billings Rescue Mission. He resided there until May 21, but was then absent until June 15. He resided there again until July 9, and then was absent again until his arrest on October 7, 2008.
The Yellowstone County Sheriff's Office verified that BRADY had not changed his address for registration as a sexual offender as required by law. The Montana Sexual and Violent Offender Registry confirmed that BRADY is currently out of compliance with Montana's Sexual Offender Registry requirements and has been so for the time periods noted above.
Because there is no parole in the federal system, the "truth in sentencing" guidelines mandate that BRADY will likely serve all of the time imposed by the court. In the federal system, BRADY does have the opportunity to earn a sentence reduction for "good behavior." However, this reduction will not exceed 15% of the overall sentence.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Marcia K. Hurd prosecuted the case for the United States.
The investigation was conducted by the U.S. Marshals Service.
