Montana Code Annotated · § 46-18-502 — Sentencing of persistent felony offender

(1) Except as provided in 46-18-219 and subsection (2) of this section, a persistent felony offender or a persistent felony offender under supervision shall be imprisoned in the state prison for a term of not less than 5 years or more than 100 years or shall be fined an amount not to exceed $50,000, or both, if the offender was 21 years of age or older at the time of the commission of the present offense.

(2) Except as provided in 46-18-219, an offender shall be imprisoned in a state prison for a term of not less than 10 years or more than 100 years or shall be fined an amount not to exceed $50,000, or both, if:

(a) the offender was a persistent felony offender or a persistent felony offender under supervision, as defined in 46-1-202, at the time of the offender's previous felony conviction;

(b) less than 5 years have elapsed between the commission of the present offense and:

(i) the previous felony conviction; or

(ii) the offender's release on parole, from prison, or from other commitment imposed as a result of the previous felony conviction; and

(c) the offender was 21 years of age or older at the time of the commission of the present offense.

(3) Except as provided in 46-18-222, the imposition or execution of the first 5 years of a sentence imposed under subsection (1) of this section or the first 10 years of a sentence imposed under subsection (2) of this section may not be deferred or suspended.

(4) Any sentence imposed under subsection (2) must run consecutively to any other sentence imposed.