U.S. Department of Justice

United States Attorney
District of North Dakota

District of North Dakota

www.justice.gov/usao/nd

For Immediate Release

March 20, 2012

Belcourt Man Pleads Guilty to Possession of Stolen Firearms

BISMARCK — U.S. Attorney Timothy Q. Purdon announced that on March 20, 2012, Terry J. Gourneau Jr., 21 of Belcourt, N.D., pleaded guilty in U.S. District Court to a charge of possession of stolen firearms.

Between September 18, 2011, and September 20, 2011, Gourneau possessed firearms which Gourneau knew had been stolen, and Gourneau sold those firearms to relatives.

The charge of possession of stolen firearms carries a statutory maximum penalty of 10 years in federal prison and a $250,000 fine.

The case was investigated by the Bureau of Indian Affairs – Turtle Mountain Agency and the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.

Sentencing for Gourneau has been scheduled for June 25, 2012, in U.S. District Court in Bismarck, N.D., at 10:30 a.m.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Brandi Sasse Russell is prosecuting the case.

###