Polson man sentenced for gun crime

A Polson man who admitted possessing a handgun after having been convicted of a felony was sentenced Thursday in federal court to three years in prison and three years of supervised release.

According to information from the U.S. Attorney’s Office, Marc Anthony Friscia, 30, pleaded guilty in July to being a prohibited person in possession of a firearm.

Court records filed by the prosecution said Friscia was pulled over in a traffic stop in January 2018 and arrested on an outstanding warrant, according to U.S. Attorney Kurt Alme.

Friscia was on probation at the time. During a search of the vehicle Friscia was driving, officers found a .357 caliber pistol in a backpack in the backseat. The pistol had been reported stolen that month. Friscia had been convicted of a felony in Montana and his right to possess a firearm had not been restored.

Assistant U.S. Attorney Cyndee Peterson prosecuted the case, which was investigated by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives and the Polson Police Department.

U.S. District Judge Donald W. Molloy presided.

The case is part of Project Safe Neighborhoods, which is the centerpiece of the Department of Justice’s violent crime reduction efforts. The program is an evidence-based program proven to be effective at reducing violent crime. Through it, a broad spectrum of stakeholders work together to identify the most pressing violent crime problems in the community and develop comprehensive solutions to address them.

As part of this strategy, the program focuses enforcement efforts on the most violent offenders and partners with locally based prevention and reentry programs for lasting reductions in crime.