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MADISON (WKBT) — A 25-year-old Racine, Wis., man was sentenced to 37 months in prison for being a felon in possession of a firearm in connection with a May 2021 incident in a La Crosse bar.
Montanez Miller, who pleaded guilty to the charge on Jan. 21, will be under supervised release for two years after his incarceration, according to the sentence U.S. District Judge William M. Conley handed down in Madison Thursday.
Miller was in the bar with another individual who flashed a gun on May 16, 2021, according to the arrest report
Responding La Crosse police saw Miller nearby and apprehended him after a short foot chase, the report said. He had a pack slung across his body that contained a Glock 19 9-mm pistol loaded with 19 rounds of ammunition, a Glock 27 .40-caliber pistol loaded with 12 rounds, a Glock magazine with 30 rounds and two plastic baggies of marijuana that weighed a total of 44.8 grams, the report said.
In 2013, Miller was convicted of the felony crimes of theft from person and possession with the intent to deliver marijuana in Racine County. He was sentenced to prison, which was stayed for a term of probation.
During sentencing, Conley expressed concern about Miller’s poor performance on supervision and the fact that he was carrying guns and drugs. The judge noted Miller’s prior offenses and probation warrant, saying that the long-term consequences of this type of conduct was likely to lead to Miller’s getting himself or others killed.
The charge against Miller was the result of an investigation conducted by the La Crosse Police Department and Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.
The case was prosecuted as part o
Miller
f Project Safe Neighborhoods, the U.S. Justice Department’s program to reduce violent crime. The PSN approach emphasizes coordination between state and federal prosecutors and all levels of law enforcement to address gun crime, especially felons illegally possessing firearms and ammunition and violent and drug crimes that involve the use of firearms.
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