The United States Attorney's Office announced that during a federal court session in Great Falls, on Aug. 27, 2013, before Chief U.S. District Judge Dana L. Christensen, MICHAEL BEARHILL, JR., a 21-year-old resident of Wolf Point and an enrolled member of a federally-recognized tribe, was sentenced to a term of:
Prison: 40 months
Special Assessment: $100
Supervised Release: 3 years
BEARHILL was sentenced in connection with his guilty plea to robbery.
In an Offer of Proof filed by Assistant U.S. Attorney Laura B. Weiss, the government stated it would have proved at trial the following:
In the early hours of Feb. 2, 2013, BEARHILL entered a convenience store in Wolf Point, which is within the exterior boundaries of the Fort Peck Indian Reservation, and pointed what appeared to be a gun at two employees behind the counter. He forced them to open the till while he continued to point the gun at an employee. An employee described the robber as having a blank stare, and she realized he was serious. He removed over $300 from the till and fled. He was later identified on video by other employees as BEARHILL.
When questioned, BEARHILL admitted to going into the convenience store, pulling a gun out of his coat, and telling the employees he wanted money.
Because there is no parole in the federal system, the "truth in sentencing" guidelines mandate that BEARHILL will likely serve all of the time imposed by the court. In the federal system, BEARHILL 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.
Source: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of the United States Attorneys
