JAMES BARRETT WELCH, JR. SENTENCED IN U.S. DISTRICT COURT

Bill Mercer, United States Attorney for the District of Montana, announced today that during a federal court session in Billings, on August 23, 2006, before U.S. District Judge Richard F. Cebull, JAMES BARRETT WELCH, JR., a resident of Lame Deer, appeared for sentencing. WELCH was sentenced to a term of:

* ? Prison: 33 months

* ? Special Assessment: $100

* ? Supervised Release: 3 years

WELCH was sentenced in connection with his guilty plea to assault resulting in serious bodily injury.

In an Offer of Proof filed by the United States, the government stated it would have proved at trial the following:

On April 15, 2005, WELCH stabbed his stepfather four times with a knife at the family residence in the Air Force Housing Area at Lame Deer.

WELCH went home after he had been drinking and proceeded to get into a verbal altercation with his stepfather. His stepfather told WELCH that he was going to call the police. WELCH and his stepfather then got into a physical confrontation which ended when WELCH pulled out a steak knife and stabbed his stepfather twice in the left upper back, once in the left triceps, and once in the left chest.

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

Assistant U.S. Attorney Marcia K. Hurd prosecuted the case for the United States.

The investigation was a cooperative effort between the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Bureau of Indian Affairs.