Lake County District Court news for Dec. 13, 2017
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Judge James A. Manley sentenced the following people on Dec. 6:
Gentry Brown, 20, of St. Ignatius, received a three-year deferred sentence for an amended charge of criminal endangerment. Brown was originally charged with aggravated assault and sexual assault. According to a court document, he punched a 15-year-old girl in the mouth and knocked one of her front teeth loose on Dec. 27, 2016. He was given credit for one day in jail. He was ordered to complete 40 hours of anger management, have no contact with the victim and obtain chemical dependency and mental health evaluations. He was ordered to pay $180 in fines and fees. Two other cases were dismissed without prejudice as part of a plea agreement.
Robert Rhett Irvin, 59, of Elmo, was given a three-year deferred sentence on an amended charge of criminal endangerment. He was originally charged with assault with a weapon for telling a man at a trailer park that he would shoot him on June 7. That incident followed after Irvin told the trailer park manager that the man was a sex offender, a court document states. Irvin also allegedly unsnapped the cover on a pistol that he was wearing on his belt. County Attorney Steve Eschenbacher said Irvin has two dismissed assault charges from out of state.
Michael Paul Noland, 49, of Kalispell, was given a 13-month sentence to DOC with an additional four years suspended for his fourth DUI. He was also ordered to pay a $5,000 fine plus fees for an April 28, 2016 incident that involved a one-vehicle rollover. Manley noted that there had been 14 years between Noland’s third and fourth DUIs. Noland said he had volunteered nearly 1,000 hours helping build the Ray of Hope women’s shelter in Kalispell. Manley recommended Noland for the Warm Springs Addictions Treatment and Change, or WATCh, program.
Michael Linden Wheeler, 34, of Arlee, was given a six-month jail sentence with all time suspended for an amended charge of misdemeanor assault. He was originally charged with assault with a weapon, tampering with a communications device and misdemeanor partner family member assault. According to a court document, Wheeler admitted to slapping a woman. He also allegedly threatened a man with a rake and threw a pitchfork at him and took the woman’s cell phone. He was given credit for one day in jail.
James Parker, 50, of Ronan, received a three-year suspended sentence to the Department of Corrections with credit for 119 days in jail for possession of dangerous drugs in a case stemming from Dec. 31, 2014. Manley said Parker had essentially been in jail for a mental health issue.
Judge Kim Christopher sentenced the following people on Dec. 7:
Zachary Lang Bice, 34, had an eight-year sentence for criminal endangerment revoked. Bice, who had already served five years, was given three years in DOC. He was given another three years with all time suspended for criminal endangerment. The latter was due to leading officers on a high-speed chase in which Bice drove a motorcycle at speeds up to 114 mph through Ronan, drove in the opposite lane of traffic and through several stop signs and crashed at Ponderosa Pines Trailer Court in Pablo. He was also given 10 days in jail for DUI for the latter incident. He had a BAC of .106, according to a court document.
Frank Parker, 31, of St. Ignatius, was sentenced to one year in DOC with no time suspended for drug possession. Parker was arrested after he charged at an officer in St. Ignatius and police found drug paraphernalia in his backpack, a court record states. The plea agreement contains a recommendation for placement at the Montana State Hospital.
Jennifer Niche Morigeau, age unknown of Dixon, was given a two-year deferred prosecution agreement following an arrest for drug possession. According to a court document, police found drug paraphernalia in a vehicle Morigeau was driving on Aug. 10, 2016. Morigeau was driving on a suspended license, the document states.
