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District Courts for Feb. 21, 2018

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Judge James A. Manley sentenced the following people on Feb. 14:

 Robert Michael Bigback, 41, of Ronan was given six months in jail with all time suspended except for eight days for misdemeanor assault and one year in jail with all time suspended for negligent endangerment, also a misdemeanor. The sentences will run consecutively and were amended from an original charge of felony assault with a weapon. According to a court document, Bigback hit a man in the head with a pipe and caused two lacerations that required 13 staples. The victim had a fractured skull and nose and a concussion. No restitution was ordered but Bigback is required to pay a $250 public defender fee. 

  Ricardo Aceves Espinosa, 52, of St. Ignatius, was given five years in DOC with all but 13 months suspended. He was ordered to complete the Lake County Drug Court in lieu of completing the 13 months in DOC. On June 18, 2017, Espinosa was found in a truck that had gone off the road into a ditch. According to a court document, Espinosa blew a .305 and a .285 on two blood alcohol tests. It is his fourth DUI. 

 Ashlie Gayle Couture, 32, of Pablo, had a sentence for drug possession revoked for violating probation but got the same three-year deferred sentence to the Department of Corrections. Manley recommended Couture be screened for the Elkhorn women’s treatment center in Boulder. He noted that she was in the Lake County Drug Court but couldn’t continue and had to move to the Poverello Center in Missoula because she was homeless. 

 

Judge Kim Christopher sentenced the following person on Feb. 15:

 Patrick Wayne Hadley, 34, of Ronan, had a three-year deferred sentence for drug possession revoked because he never met with the probation office. Christopher sentenced him to three years in DOC with a recommendation that he be screened for treatment. Hadley was originally sentenced on Sept. 28, 2017. 

 

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