Men Convicted in Gun Heist Get 10 Years in Prison

BILLINGS, Mont. (AP) — Two Billings men convicted of what is believed to be the largest gun heist in state history have both been sentenced to 10 years in prison.

U.S. District Judge William Fremming Nielsen of Spokane, Wash., sentenced 36-year-old Benjamin Quinn McChesney and 29-year-old John Lloyd Romero on Wednesday during a hearing in Missoula. He ordered McChesney to pay just over $40,000 in restitution for the theft of 136 guns from a freight trailer in Billings in August 2010.

A jury convicted McChesney of two firearms theft charges and possession of stolen firearms. Romero was convicted of possession of stolen firearms and being a convicted felon in possession of a firearm.

Prosecutors said some of the guns have been recovered from crime scenes or during criminal investigations in California and Mexico.