The United States Attorney's Office announced that during a federal court session in Billings, on October 13, 2011, before Chief U.S. District Judge Richard F. Cebull, SUSAN LaFORGE, a 30-year-old resident of Wyola, appeared for sentencing. LaFORGE was sentenced to a term of:

Prison: 51 months

Special Assessment: $100

Supervised Release: 3 years

LaFORGE was sentenced in connection with her guilty plea to conspiracy to possess with the intent to distribute methamphetamine.

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

On November 2, 2010, and again on November 18, 2010, LaFORGE contacted a confidential source regarding the sale of methamphetamine. The confidential source was able to purchase 6.1 grams of methamphetamine on November 2, 1010, and 6.8 grams of methamphetamine on November 18, 2010, from LaFORGE and Luis Guzman-Hernandez in the parking lot of the a store located in the Heights in Billings. The confidential source paid $800 each time for the methamphetamine.

Both transactions were recorded using a recording device. The purchased substances were analyzed and confirmed to be methamphetamine.

Guzman-Hernandez pled guilty to federal charges and is awaiting sentencing.

Because there is no parole in the federal system, the "truth in sentencing" guidelines mandate that LaFORGE will likely serve all of the time imposed by the court. In the federal system, LaFORGE 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 Bureau of Indian Affairs.

 

 

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