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Articles with the Tag: Crime

Ronan man accepts plea

For killing his passenger in a drunk-driving crash, a Ronan man has accepted a plea agreement that could result in a 15-year sentence to the Montana Department of Corrections with half of that time suspended. Brayden A’twen Cutfinger, 21, pleaded guilty at District Court in Polson on April 2 to the ...

Pierre’s five-year sentence for criminal endangerment gets suspended

A Lake County man who entered a no-contest plea to the amended charge of felony criminal endangerment at District Court in Polson on Feb. 5 was committed to the Montana Department of Corrections on March 25 for five years with all that time suspended. William Baptiste Pierre, 34, was initially facing an a...

Swindler awaits sentencing after guilty plea

A Woods Bay man entered a plea of guilty at District Court in Polson on March 11 to felony theft. Michael Austin Swindler, 30, was accused of stealing a dump truck from a storage unit in Woods Bay. According to court records, on Aug. 21, 2018, a man reported his 2009 Chevy Tiltmaster Dump Truck was missin...

Max sentence given for 9th DUI

A St. Ignatius man was committed to the Montana Department of Corrections for five years with no time suspended on what Lake County Attorney Steve Eschenbacher says is his ninth DUI.  Judge James Manley handed down the sentence to Douglas Cecil Dumont, 60, at District Court in Polson on March 4. Five...

High-speed chase circles St. Ignatius, ends in arrest High-speed chase circles St. Ignatius, ends in arrest

ST. IGNATIUS – On dry dirt roads outside of town, where more cows and chickens usually roam than cars, a white sedan hit speeds of up to 90 miles an hour as a line of police vehicles pursued it.  The incident started on Olsen Road at about 2 p.m. on Thursday, Jan. 30, when Montana Highway Patro...

McCarty sentenced for March 2019 high-speed chase case McCarty sentenced for March 2019 high-speed chase case

A Missoula man has avoided a felony charge of criminal endangerment by accepting a plea agreement at District Court in Polson on Jan. 29. Dakota McCarty, 28, was charged with felony criminal endangerment but pleaded guilty by way of a plea agreement to misdemeanor negligent endangerment for a high-speed p...

Vaska sentenced for DUI charge Vaska sentenced for DUI charge

A Polson man was committed to the Montana Department of Corrections for 13 months on a felony charge of driving while under the influence.  Brennan Keith Vaska, 27, was also fined $5,000 for the DUI, $100 for misdemeanor theft and ordered to pay $800 for the cost of his public defender. District Judg...

Judge gives man three years for criminal endangerment

A Lake County man was sentenced in District Court at Polson on Jan. 22 to three years with the Montana Department of Corrections with no time suspended on the amended charge of criminal endangerment.  Jonathan Wayne Snyder, 40, was initially charged with sexual intercourse without consent for an inci...

Gholson sentenced to 20 years Gholson sentenced to 20 years

A former Polson man who could be a key figure in a Polson woman’s mysterious disappearance in 2005 was sentenced at District Court in Polson on Jan. 16 to 20 years in the Montana State Prison with 10 years suspended for violating conditions of parole in an unrelated matter. William Earl Gholson, 60,...

Bybee pleads not guilty to assault Bybee pleads not guilty to assault

Andrew Joseph Bybee, 38, of Polson, entered a plea of not guilty at District Court in Polson on Jan. 8 to several felonies, including felony strangulation of a partner or family member, felony assault with a weapon and three counts of privacy in communications, one being a felony. According to court recor...


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