Michael Dean Swanson Sentenced in U.S. District Court

The United States Attorney’s Office announced that during a federal court session in Billings, on June 22, 2011, before Senior U.S. District Judge Jack D. Shanstrom, MICHAEL DEAN SWANSON, a 41-year-old resident of Billings, appeared for sentencing. SWANSON was sentenced to a term of:

Prison: 87 months

Special Assessment: $100

Supervised Release: five years

SWANSON was sentenced in connection with his guilty plea to conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine.

In an offer of proof filed by Assistant U.S. Attorney Tara J. Elliott, the government stated it would have proved at trial the following:

Beginning in approximately December of 2007, and continuing until November 2009, SWANSON and several other individuals distributed in excess of 500 grams of methamphetamine throughout the Montana, including Yellowstone County.

Specifically during this time period, a co-conspirator (“CC”) would have testified that s/he supplied between approximately 64-80 ounces of methamphetamine to SWANSON.

On December 3, 2009, SWANSON was interviewed and admitted to obtaining and distributing well over 500 grams of methamphetamine to over a dozen different individuals between early 2007 and November of 2009.

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

The investigation was a cooperative effort between the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Billings Big Sky Safe Streets Task Force.