Jason X. Dennis 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 Great Falls, on October 19, 2009, before U.S. District Judge Sam E. Haddon, JASON X. DENNIS, a 39-year-old resident of Wapato, Washington, appeared for sentencing. DENNIS was sentenced to a term of:
- Prison: 37 months
- Special Assessment: $200
- Supervised Release: 6 years
DENNIS was sentenced in connection with his guilty plea to possession with the intent to distribute cocaine and distribution of cocaine in public housing.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Vince Carroll stated that the government would have proved at trial the following:
On September 2, 2006, a confidential informant for the Blackfeet Safe Trails Task Force purchased cocaine from DENNIS. The transaction was audio recorded. The sale took place at a residence in the Glacier Heights neighborhood in Browning, which is in or within 1,000 feet of a Housing and Urban Development community, within the exterior boundaries of the Blackfeet Indian Reservation. The substance was tested by the DEA lab and confirmed to be cocaine.
Because there is no parole in the federal system, the "truth in sentencing" guidelines mandate that DENNIS will likely serve all of the time imposed by the court. In the federal system, DENNIS 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 the Bureau of Indian Affairs, the Glacier County Sheriff's Office, the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Blackfeet Safe Trails Task Force.
