A 32-year-old Louisiana man has been sentenced to 15 months in prison for illegally possessing a firearm after confessing to shooting a mule deer buck in the Baker area of Montana.
Matthew Stephen Hays, of Rayville, Louisiana, pleaded guilty in November to being a prohibited person in possession of a firearm.
U.S. District Judge Susan P. Watters presided over the case.
The prosecution said in court documents that Hays was convicted of felony theft of a firearm in Louisiana in 2014. In January 2019, Montana Department of Fish, Wildlife and Parks wardens were investigating reports of deer poaching in eastern Montana.
While on Sheep Mountain Road, the wardens saw a small pickup truck, heard four shots and saw the truck drive away. The wardens drove to where the truck had stopped and found a mule deer buck thrashing in sage brush about 150 yards from the road.
The wardens hiked to the animal and found it dead from several gunshot wounds. Four days later, one of the wardens saw in a Baker parking lot a truck matching the description of the truck that had been seen on Sheep Mountain Road.
There were deer antlers in the back of the pickup and a rifle and several boxes of ammunition in the back seat of the cab. Hays emerged from a nearby store and walked to the truck. He confessed to the warden that he shot mule deer buck with his .22-caliber rifle.
During a search of the truck, the warden recovered a .22-caliber rifle and a second firearm. Hays also told the warden he had a prior felony conviction.
Assistant U.S. Attorney Karla Painter prosecuted the case, which was investigated by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.
This case is part of Project Guardian, an initiative to reduce gun violence and enforce federal firearms laws, and Project Safe Neighborhoods, an initiative to reduce violent crime.
Related Federal Cases
- Michael Blake Defrance, Prohibited Person in Possession, Montana 2018 · Indiana
- Sampson Sentenced to 70 Months for Assault on Flight Crew, Alaska 2023 · Washington
- Alexy Diaz, Possession of a Firearm by a Felon, Georgia 2023 · Washington
- Kyle Cliburn, Methamphetamine Trafficking, Montana 2024 · Idaho
- Jeff Landry, Firearm Purchase Tracking, Louisiana 2024 · Indiana
Key Facts
- State: Montana
- Category: Violent Crime
- Source: DOJ Press Release â†â€â€
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