Courts
An Elmo man has been acquitted of sexual intercourse without consent after a one and a half-day trial at District Court in Polson that began on Monday, Sept. 30. A 12-person jury reached their verdict within about an hour. Gene Adams, 30, was accused of raping a woman as she slept at a Polson residence on Aug. 19. Polson attorney Bob Long represented Adams with Judge James Manley presiding. Molly Owen of the Lake County Attorney’s Office represented the state. Adams is still facing one count of criminal possession of dangerous drugs stemming from a traffic stop for expired registration in August of 2017. His trial has been continued to April of 2020.
A Bigfork man was sentenced at District Court in Polson on Sept. 11 to 20 years in the Montana State Prison and ordered to pay $1,185,500 in restitution on charges of theft and money laundering. Robert Earl Staudenmayer, 33, pled guilty to the charges on July 24 without the benefit of a plea agreement. St...
A Lake County jury found Lake County, Lake County Sheriff Don Bell, several officers with the Lake County Sheriffs’ office and private citizen Drew Hoel not liable in a civil lawsuit brought by a man whose hearing is impaired and communicates through sign language. Larry Martinez and his wife Lauri ...
Donovan Sherwood, 19, was sentenced at District Court in Polson on Aug. 28 to 20 years in the Montana State Prison with none of that time suspended with an eight-year parole restriction. The sentence results from an aggravated assault charge involving his 13-year-old girlfriend. The case was h...
A Pablo man has been found not guilty of deliberate homicide after a two-and-a-half-day trial that began on Aug. 19 before Judge James Manley. The Lake County jury of eight men and four women deliberated for about four hours before reaching their verdict in the case against Daniel Chance Blixt, 29, ...
A Polson man has been ordered to pay restitution of $197,385.97 for breaking into Polson storage units and stealing thousands of dollars in personal belongings, including about $150,000 in gold coins. Kenneth Charles Gieber, 21, pled guilty to felony burglary during a change of plea hearing at District Co...
ST. IGNATIUS – The St. Ignatius Volunteer Fire Department is reorganizing after two prominent volunteers suddenly left due to allegations of embezzlement – resulting in one arrest. On Monday, July 29, Annie Morigeau, 33, was charged with felony theft and forgery and arrested by law enfor...
For a Polson woman accused of embezzling money from her employer, Judge James Manley deferred the imposition of sentencing for six years in accordance with a plea agreement reached at District Court in Polson on June 19. Melissa Ann Miller, 34, admitted to crediting false returns to her debit card while s...
A Pablo man was committed to the Montana Department of Corrections for a total of seven years with five years suspended, resolving three separate cases against him in District Court at Polson on July 3. Jonathan Austin Green, 31, was charged with felony theft for allegedly stealing an Infinity model vehic...
In an elder exploitation case, a Lake County man had his imposition of sentencing deferred for three years and was ordered to pay restitution of $10,980 to the victim. Merlyn James Snyder, 37, pled guilty to exploitation of an older person in an earlier appearance at District Court in Polson. In exchange ...
