Former Flathead felon convicted on gun charges

A former Flathead felon will now serve federal time after being convicted Dec. 10 of felony possession of a firearm in a two-day trial in U.S. District Court in Billings.

The jury found that Ryan Anthony Cislo, 37, most recently of Billings, was in possession of three firearms. A woman called Cislo’s probation officer on June 9, 2014, after Cislo moved out of the woman’s home. The woman said Cislo had shown her three firearms and they were still in the home.

Cislo is a convicted felon and is prohibited from owning the weapons.

Officers found two guns stuffed between the mattress and box spring of a bed. One of the guns was loaded. A gun safe also in the room. The safe contained Cislo’s identification, Social Security card, credit cards and a .22 derringer.

According to court documents, Cislo denied ever living at the house or knowing the guns were there, although paperwork for his release from the Montana Department of Corrections listed the house as his residence. In a jail-house phone call presented at trial, Cislo admitted to living at the residence for more than 10 days.

At the time of his arrest on federal charges, Cislo was on probation for several felony convictions.

In November 2014 Cislo was sentenced to two years with the Montana Department of Corrections for carrying a concealed weapon. He was also convicted for criminal possession of dangerous drugs in 2008 and 2009 in Flathead County for incidents where other drug charges from 2003 and 2004 were dropped as part of a plea bargain.

In the 2008 case, Cislo dealt heroin and prescription drugs to confidential informants on two separate occasions during July. On July 28, 2008, Cislo’s vehicle was discovered crashed and abandoned after an apparent rollover accident off U.S. 2. A tow truck driver noticed syringes in the vehicle. A search found more than 60 individual baggies and other paraphernalia believed to have been used in drug dealing.

Cislo will be sentenced in the current case on March 23.

Reporter Megan Strickland can be reached at 758-4459 or mstrickland@dailyinterlake.com.