MISSOULA — A Missoula felon was sentenced on May 1 to 33 months in prison, to be followed by three years of supervised release, for illegally possessing a loaded and stolen firearm, U.S. Attorney Jesse Laslovich said today.

The defendant, Caleb Gerard Diamond, 24, pleaded guilty in December 2023 to prohibited person in possession of a firearm.

U.S. District Judge Dana L. Christensen presided.

In court documents, the government alleged that in May 2023, Diamond, while on felony probation for two separate crimes, was arrested for exposing himself in public while watching two females leave a movie theater. Diamond possessed a loaded .45-caliber handgun and methamphetamine. The gun had been stolen the previous October from a vehicle a few blocks from where Diamond was arrested. Twelve days earlier, Diamond stole ammunition from a local business. When questioned about firearms in his residence, Diamond initially stated he was not aware of any but then advised he recently had purchased a shotgun and gave it to his roommate.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Karla E. Painter prosecuted the case. The Missoula Police Department, Montana Probation and Parole and Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives conducted the investigation.

This case is part of Project Safe Neighborhoods (PSN), a program bringing together all levels of law enforcement and the communities they serve to reduce violent crime and gun violence, and to make our neighborhoods safer for everyone. On May 26, 2021, the Department launched a violent crime reduction strategy strengthening PSN based on these core principles: fostering trust and legitimacy in our communities, supporting community-based organizations that help prevent violence from occurring in the first place, setting focused and strategic enforcement priorities, and measuring the results.