Ex-boyfriend of missing woman sentenced on firearms crimes

A Missoula man with ties to the Flathead Reservation was convicted by a federal judge of multiple firearms crimes and sentenced Sept. 21 to 21 months in prison, to be followed by three years of supervised release, according to U.S. Attorney Jesse Laslovich.

After a two-day bench trial, U.S. District Judge Dana L. Christensen found Michael Blake DeFrance, 30, guilty on May 1 on all counts charged in a second superseding indictment, including prohibited person in possession of a firearm and three counts of false statement during a firearms transaction.

DeFrance was ordered to self-report to the Bureau of Prisons.

“DeFrance was previously convicted of partner or family member assault after he assaulted his then partner, Jermain Charlo,” said Laslovich in a press release. “Because of this, he lost his right to possess firearms and yet he made false statements on firearms forms so he could illegally obtain guns at a pawn shop.”

In court documents and at trial, the government alleged that on June 27, 2018, a Missoula Police Department detective located a .357-caliber revolver and a box of .357-caliber ammunition in the console of DeFrance’s truck. Two .22-caliber rifles were located under the back seat. On Oct. 2, 2018, law enforcement executed a search warrant on DeFrance’s residence and located a .357-caliber revolver on a desk by the front door. The detective recognized this gun as the revolver DeFrance had in his truck in June. DeFrance also had two rifles in his bedroom.

When asked if he knew he was not supposed to have guns, DeFrance replied, “I was never clear on that.”

The government further alleged that in May 2013, DeFrance was sentenced for partner or family member assault on Jermain Charlo in Sanders County. DeFrance signed a waiver of rights form in which he acknowledged his rights, which included – on a list of possible consequences of pleading guilty – the loss of firearms rights.

The same form contained space for DeFrance to explain the basis for his guilty plea, and his form stated, “On 4-14-2013, in Sanders County I caused bodily injury to my girlfriend.”

In addition, the government alleged that on three occasions in 2018, DeFrance completed Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives forms at a Missoula pawn shop in which he represented that he had not been convicted of a misdemeanor crime of domestic violence. Prior to and after the assault in 2013, Charlo stayed with DeFrance in a camper on property belonging to the DeFrance family. Charlo and DeFrance were in an intimate relationship.

Charlo, a young indigenous woman from the Flathead Reservation, was last seen in the early morning hours of June 16, 2018, in Missoula, and investigators continue to search for her. According to a Missoulian story, dated June 15, the young woman’s family sat through DeFrance’s bench trial on May 1.

The government alleged DeFrance was prohibited from possessing firearms because he had been convicted of misdemeanor domestic violence and that he knowingly made false written statements in 2018 at a Missoula pawn shop in connection with his acquisition and attempted acquisition of three firearms.

Assistant U.S. Attorneys Jennifer S. Clark and Timothy J. Racicot prosecuted the case, which was investigated by the FBI’s Montana Regional Violent Crime Task Force and Missoula Police Department.