Troy resident sentenced in U.S. District Court

Bill Mercer, U.S. Attorney for the District of Montana, announced Wednesday, Nov. 14 that during a federal court session in Missoula on Nov. 2, before Chief U.S. District Judge Donald W. Molloy, Douglas B. Dutton, a 45 year-old resident of Troy, appeared for sentencing.

Dutton was sentenced in connection with this guilty plea of being a felon-in-possession of firearms to a term of 56 months, a special assessment of $100 and a supervised release of three years, according to documents obtained from Jessica Fehr, assistant U.S. Attorney for the District of Montana.

On Aug. 8, 2005, Dutton received a suspended sentence following a felony conviction for criminal production or manufacture of dangerous drugs in the Montana 19th Judicial District Court in Lincoln County.

On Nov. 8, 2005, representatives of the Lincoln County Sheriff's Office participated in a probation search of Dutton's residence in Troy. The officers seized three firearms during the search.

On Oct. 31, 2006, the ATF National Tracing Center produced a Firearms Trace Summary concerning a .22-caliber revolver that had been seized during the search. The Trace Summary reflected that Dutton had purchased the revolver on Aug. 25, 1985 in Lolo.

Because there is no parole in the federal system, the truth in sentencing guidelines mandate that Dutton will likely serve all of the time imposed by the court. In the federal system, Dutton does have the opportunity to earn a sentence reduction for good behavior. However, this reduction will not exceed 15 percent of the overall sentence.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Timothy J. Racicot prosecuted the case for the United States.

The investigation was a cooperative effort between the Lincoln County Sheriff's Office, Montana Probation and Parole, and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.