The United States Attorney's Office announced that during a federal court session in Missoula, on November 10, 2011, before U.S. District Judge Donald W. Molloy, FRANK WAYNE CAMPBELL, a 43-year-old resident of Bozeman, appeared for sentencing. CAMPBELL was sentenced to a term of:

Prison: 100 months

Special Assessment: $200

Supervised Release: 3 years

CAMPBELL was sentenced in connection with his guilty plea to arson affecting interstate commerce and being a felon-in-possession of a firearm.

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

On December 6, 2006, the Montana Eighteenth Judicial District Court, Gallatin County in the State of Montana sentenced CAMPBELL for driving under the influence of alcohol, a felony, which thereby prohibited him from possessing firearms.

On September 11, 2008, CAMPBELL set fire to a building located in Bozeman. The building housed a law office and a gift store. The building was badly damaged and both businesses were shutdown for a time due to damage to their businesses and the building.

Upon CAMPBELL's arrest on July 5, 2009, CAMPBELL admitted his felony status and that he was in possession of a firearm. He also stated that he was supposed to kill a Bozeman attorney for the man's wife, but could not bring himself to commit the murder. Law enforcement interviewed CAMPBELL a number of times regarding both investigations - the arson and possible murder for hire. During the course of the investigations, CAMPBELL admitted to setting the fire to burn down the building due to the law office located inside the building. CAMPBELL admitted possession of the rifle and admitted that it seemed very short but that he did not think much about the rifle's length as he was supposed to shoot someone with it.

The owner of the law firm and the owner of the gift store verified that each business affected interstate commerce with clients and customers from out of state and purchases of supplies from outside the State of Montana.

The rifle CAMPBELL possessed was a Savage .22 caliber rifle with a barrel length of approximately 2.25 inches and an overall length of approximately 12 inches.

Because there is no parole in the federal system, the "truth in sentencing" guidelines mandate that CAMPBELL will likely serve all of the time imposed by the court. In the federal system, CAMPBELL 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 Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives, the Bozeman Police Department, and Montana Probation and Parole.

 

 

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