Donald E. Foster Sentenced in U.S. District Court
The United States Attorney's Office announced that during a federal court session in Billings, on August 29, 2012, before Senior U.S. District Judge Jack D. Shanstrom, DONALD E. FOSTER, age 38, appeared for sentencing. FOSTER was sentenced to a term of:
- Prison: 100 months
- Special Assessment: $200
- Restitution: $735
- Supervised Release: 3 years
FOSTER was sentenced in connection with his guilty plea to being a felon-inpossession of a firearm and possession of stolen firearm.
In an Offer of Proof filed by Special Assistant U.S. Attorney Ed Zink, the government stated it would have proved at trial the following:
In August of 2010, FOSTER burglarized the residence of his employer. During the theft of numerous items, FOSTER also stole six firearms. FOSTER pawned four of them on August 25, 2010, in Billings.
On August 31, 2010, FOSTER was interviewed and confessed to the burglary and theft of six firearms and admitted pawning four of them.
At the time, the FOSTER was a multi-convicted felon on parole. Among other offenses, FOSTER had been sentenced to 10 years for robbery on February 23, 2003.
Because there is no parole in the federal system, the "truth in sentencing" guidelines mandate that FOSTER will likely serve all of the time imposed by the court. In the federal system, FOSTER 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 a cooperative effort between the Yellowstone County Sheriff's Office and the ATF.
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