Edward Alvin White, Ii, Sentenced in U.S. District Court
The United States Attorney's Office announced that during a federal court session in Billings, on November 5, 2011, before Chief U.S. District Judge Richard F. Cebull, EDWARD ALVIN WHITE, II, a 29-year-old resident of Billings, appeared for sentencing. WHITE was sentenced to a term of:
- Prison: 33 months
- Special Assessment: $100
- Supervised Release: 3 years
WHITE was sentenced in connection with his guilty plea to possession with the intent to distribute cocaine and distribution of cocaine.
In an Offer of Proof filed by Assistant U.S. Attorney James E. Seykora, the government stated it would have proved at trial the following:
WHITE obtained cocaine from at least two sources of supply from August 2008 to June of 2009 for redistribution. WHITE both received and distributed cocaine with several other individuals.
On December 31, 2008, WHITE sold 3.3 grams of cocaine to an undercover officer. WHITE's girlfriend would have testified that WHITE obtained up to one-ounce quantities of cocaine at a time for at least a six month period from at least two sources of supply. On occasion, she accompanied WHITE to redistribute the cocaine to others and on those occasions, WHITE carried a firearm. WHITE distributed the cocaine out of his girlfriend's residence. She received over two ounces of cocaine herself during this time frame.
Testimony would have shown that WHITE distributed between 200 to 300 grams of cocaine.
Because there is no parole in the federal system, the "truth in sentencing" guidelines mandate that WHITE will likely serve all of the time imposed by the court. In the federal system, WHITE 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 Billings Big Sky Safe Streets Task Force, the High Intensity Drug Trafficking Area (HIDTA) Task Force, the Federal Bureau of Investigation, the Drug Enforcement Administration, and U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement.
