Woman Gets Prison Time for Illegal Gun Used in Suicide

BILLINGS, Mont. (AP) — A 29-year-old Billings woman faces 2 ½ years in prison after pleading guilty to possessing a stolen handgun that a man used to commit suicide during a standoff with police near Red Lodge.

Leslie Ann Erickson was sentenced Wednesday by U.S. District Judge Jack Shanstrom. She is expecting a baby in about two weeks.

Leslie was arrested after 35-year-old Timothy William Patrick used the semi-automatic pistol to shoot himself in the head on Oct. 13, 2011.

Red Lodge police were investigating a report of a stolen car when Police Chief Scott Cope spotted Leslie and Patrick walking near the abandoned car south of Red Lodge.

Erickson testified at the inquest into Patrick's death that the two had injected methamphetamine and made a suicide pact shortly before the encounter with Cope.