BILLINGS – A federal judge has cut more than 150 years from a mentally ill Billings woman’s prison term for her role in helping plan a series of armed robberies in Billings and Butte in 2002.
Marion Hungerford’s 159-year sentence drew national attention as a case of mandatory sentencing laws gone awry.
“The steps taken today were made while keeping the victims in mind and in concurrence with our office’s steps to find justice in this case,” U.S. Attorney Mike Cotter said in a statement Wednesday. “Today’s modification of Marion Hungerford’s original sentence is a just conclusion for this defendant, based on these facts.”
Hungerford, 57, was convicted in 2005 of conspiracy, seven counts of robbery and seven counts of using a firearm in relation to a crime of violence. A jury convicted her as an accomplice, holding her responsible as if she had carried a gun even though she never held the gun.
Federal sentencing guidelines required U.S. District Judge Richard Cebull to sentence her to five years for the first gun conviction and a consecutive 25 years for each of the remaining six convictions, for a total of 155 years.
Dana Canfield, who brandished his .22-caliber pistol during the robberies, pleaded guilty and testified against Hungerford. He received a 32-year prison sentence.
Hungerford’s attorneys argued for leniency at sentencing, saying she was diagnosed with a mental illness and had no criminal record. Hungerford refused to accept a plea agreement, did not testify at her trial and maintained her innocence at sentencing.
The 9th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals upheld the sentence in 2006, but Circuit Judge Stephen Reinhardt called for sentencing reform.
Reinhardt said it was “immensely cruel, if not barbaric,” that a severely mentally disturbed person who played a limited role in several robberies during which no one was injured could be sentenced to 159 years in prison.
“It cannot be left unsaid how irrational, inhumane and absurd the sentence in this case is.”
Hungerford’s attorney, Palmer Hoovestal of Helena, said at the time that Hungerford’s mental illness prevented her from making sound decisions.
Hungerford then filed a motion to have her sentence vacated, arguing her attorneys should have argued her diminished mental capacity during the trial, rather than waiting until sentencing.
That claim eventually led to an agreement with the U.S. attorney’s office that dismissed six convictions of carrying a firearm during a crime of violence. She remains convicted of armed robbery and one firearms charge. Her sentence was reduced to a little more than seven years.
Cebull recommended Hungerford serve her sentence at a federal mental health facility and that she be released to a pre-release center for one year.