The United States Attorney's Office announced that during a federal court session in Great Falls, on September 27, 2010, before U.S. District Judge Sam E. Haddon, CARTER ROY LONGTREE, a 20-year-old resident of Poplar, appeared for sentencing. LONGTREE was sentenced to a term of:

• Prison: 30 months

• Special Assessment: $100

• Restitution: $144,700

• Supervised Release: 5 years

LONGTREE was sentenced in connection with his guilty plea to arson.

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

On July 1, 2009, R.M. and his family were moving from Michigan to Poplar, which is on the Fort Peck Indian Reservation, where his wife had taken a nursing position. All of the family's household items and most of their personal possessions were in a U-Haul truck which had been rented for the move and which was parked in the parking lot of the Fort Peck Community College dorms where the family had spent their first night in Poplar. The following morning, R.M. found the U-Haul had been stolen.

On the morning of July 2, 2009, law enforcement and fire crews were called to the scene of a vehicle fire north of Poplar. At an area called "The Slab" - a small concrete platform that crosses a creek - officers discovered a burning U-Haul container truck, later determined to be the U-Haul stolen from the parking lot of the college and containing the property of R.M. and his family.

Over the next few days, criminal investigators received tips that the truck had been stolen and burned by LONGTREE and a juvenile, both enrolled members of the Fort Peck Tribes. The two were interviewed and admitted that they had stolen the truck from the parking lot and driven it north. They indicated that they had been drinking and took the truck on impulse. At some point, they got the truck stuck and they decided to burn the evidence. They called a friend to come and pick them up and then set fire to the contents of the container truck.

The theft and destruction of the U-Haul resulted in a loss of $144,700. This figure represents a loss of $500 to R.M. (deductible), $92,050 to Farm Bureau Insurance for the loss of insured property, and $52,150 to U-Haul for the loss of the truck.

Because there is no parole in the federal system, the "truth in sentencing" guidelines mandate that LONGTREE will likely serve all of the time imposed by the court. In the federal system, LONGTREE 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 Fort Peck Tribes Criminal Investigation Division.

 

 

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