Bill Mercer, United States Attorney for the District of Montana, announced today that during a federal court session in Missoula, on April 4, 2008, before U.S. District Judge Donald W. Molloy, SHANE DOUGLAS SICHTING, a 39-year-old resident of Libby, appeared for sentencing. SICHTING was sentenced to a term of:

• Prison: 120 months

• Special Assessment: $100

• Supervised Release: 3 years

SICHTING was sentenced after having been found guilty during a 21/2-day trial of murder-for-hire.

Because there is no parole in the federal system, the "truth in sentencing" guidelines mandate that SICHTING will likely serve all of the time imposed by the court. In the federal system, SICHTING 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 Kris A. McLean prosecuted the case for the United States.

The investigation was a cooperative effort between the Federal Bureau of Investigation and the Kalispell Police Department.