BILLINGS-Bruce Howell Runion was sentenced today to three years in prison and three years of supervised after admitting he possessed 20 firearms in Musselshell County despite being prohibited from having guns because of a felony conviction, U.S. Attorney Kurt Alme said.
Runion, 47, of Crosby, Tenn., pleaded guilty in February to being a felon in possession of a firearm.
U.S. District Judge Susan P. Watters presided.
The prosecution said in court records that the Musselshell County Sheriff’s Office responded to a call for assistance at a residence on Aug. 1, 2017. Runion was outside, covered in blood and acting aggressively. During a safety sweep of the residence, officers saw on a coffee table a pistol that had been discharged into the ceiling. An investigation found that Runion had become enraged because of a phone call and had discharged the firearm into the ceiling while trashing the residence.
The Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives identified Runion as a prohibited felon and obtained a search warrant for the residence. Agents found an assortment of 20 firearms.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Colin Rubich prosecuted the case, which was investigated by the ATF.
The case is part of Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN), which is the centerpiece of the Department of Justice’s violent crime reduction efforts. PSN is an evidence-based program proven to be effective at reducing violent crime. Through PSN, a broad spectrum of stakeholders work together to identify the most pressing violent crime problems in the community and develop comprehensive solutions to address them. As part of this strategy, PSN focuses enforcement efforts on the most violent offenders and partners with locally based prevention and reentry programs for lasting reductions in crime.
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Source: U.S. Department of Justice, Office of the United States Attorneys
