Bill Mercer, United States Attorney for the District of Montana, announced today that during a federal court session in Helena, on September 16, 2009, before Senior U.S. District Judge Charles C. Lovell, DAVID MICHAEL LLOYD, a 23-year-old resident of Deer Lodge, appeared for sentencing. LLOYD was sentenced to a term of:

• Prison: 46 months

• Special Assessment: $100

• Supervised Release: 3 years

LLOYD was sentenced in connection with his guilty plea to being a felon-in-possession of a firearm.

In an Offer of Proof filed by the United States, the government stated it would have proved at trial the following:

On August 23, 2007, LLOYD was convicted of felony attempted larceny from a person in North Carolina.

Between October 27, 2008, and November 3, 2008, LLOYD possessed two stolen firearms. The firearms were a Ruger .45 caliber revolver and a Mossberg 12 gauge shotgun. LLOYD also possessed a third firearm in this same time frame, a Hi-Point .45 caliber pistol.

The Ruger revolver and Mossberg shotgun were stolen in a Deer Lodge residential burglary on October 27, 2008. The owner reported the burglary very early on the 28th when he arrived home from work and was able to provide complete information regarding the firearms.

Numerous Deer Lodge residents provided law enforcement information regarding another individual's possession of the two stolen firearms and LLOYD'S possession of the three firearms.

Law enforcement learned that this individual possessed the two stolen firearms, the Ruger revolver and Mossberg shotgun, on October 27, 2008, at a Deer Lodge residence. The individual had attempted to enter the residence with the firearms but was told by the homeowner to take them outside. The resident also heard the individual trying to sell the guns while on the phone.

Within a day or so, LLOYD had the three firearms for sale. LLOYD returned the Mossberg shotgun to the rightful owner. LLOYD then sold the two handguns to another Deer Lodge resident through that resident's daughter. The daughter gave him the guns, he gave the money to his daughter, and his daughter gave the money to LLOYD.

During the course of their investigation, law enforcement learned that the other individual had likely committed the burglary where the Ruger revolver and the Mossberg shotgun were taken.

Because there is no parole in the federal system, the "truth in sentencing" guidelines mandate that LLOYD will likely serve all of the time imposed by the court. In the federal system, LLOYD 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 Paulette L. Stewart prosecuted the case for the United States.

The investigation was conducted by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.

This conviction is yet another important outcome from Project Safe Neighborhoods, a national priority of the United States Department of Justice. PSN is designed as a partnership between federal and local law enforcement to reduce violent crime and gun-related crime through the vigorous enforcement of the criminal provisions of the federal firearms laws. In Montana, the effort under PSN is called "Catch and No Release."

 

 

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