The United States Attorney's Office announced that during a federal court session in Billings, on September 9, 2013, before U.S. District Judge Sam E. Haddon, KENNETH MARK ENGE, a 36-year-old resident of Billings, was sentenced to a term of:
* Prison: 37 months
* Special Assessment: $100
* Supervised Release: 3 years
ENGE was sentenced in connection with his guilty plea to being a felon-in-possession of a firearm.
In an Offer of Proof filed by Assistant U.S. Attorney Brendan P. McCarthy, the government stated it would have proved at trial the following:
In 2004, ENGE was convicted of felony assault with a weapon in the Montana Thirteenth Judicial District Court and was therefore prohibited from possessing firearms or ammunition.
On Aug. 27, 2012, Billing Police Department officers responded to a report of a disturbance involving a firearm in the area of the 600 block of South 35th Street in Billings. Upon their arrival, they found ENGE and another individual in the yard of home on South 35th Street. ENGE failed to show his hands to the officers and fled on foot towards the alley. Officers saw ENGE throw a dark object, believed to be a firearm, into some bushes on the east side of the front yard. After he threw the gun, ENGE then came back to the officers and was arrested. A Hi-Point, 9mm semi-automatic pistol containing seven rounds of ammunition in the magazine and one round in the chamber was found in the bushes.
ENGE first denied that he had a gun, then claimed that he had a pellet gun. The other individual that was in the yard admitted that ENGE did have the gun, and that he threatened to shoot her father while the two were arguing at that location. ENGE and the other individual talked on recorded jail calls about setting up a story about the gun being a pellet gun and possibly contacting the other individual's dad to get him to say that he did not see a gun. In the jail call, they also spoke about how ENGE did possess the firearm and how the officers did observe ENGE throw the firearm in the bushes. During a different phone conversation between ENGE and a different individual, ENGE described how someone else acquired the firearm and gave it to ENGE.
Because there is no parole in the federal system, the "truth in sentencing" guidelines mandate that ENGE will likely serve all of the time imposed by the court. In the federal system, ENGE 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 Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.
Source: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of the United States Attorneys
