Bolen loses one, wins one, another pending
Nicole Tavenner
Solomon Bolen
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POLSON – A St. Ignatius man recently lost a case in district court, had another dismissed, and yet another case is scheduled for trial on Feb. 21.
Solomon Preston Bolen, 35, was convicted of criminal possession of dangerous drugs in a bench trial before Judge James A. Manley on Jan. 6. He was convicted of having more than 60 grams of marijuana. Sentencing was postponed until after his other cases are adjudicated.
A jury trial scheduled for Jan. 17 was vacated when prosecuting attorney Ben Anciaux dismissed two assault with a weapon charges. Anciaux later said there were problems with getting a witness to testify and other issues. According to a court document, Bolen had allegedly passed two women on Nov. 11, 2015 while driving in St. Ignatius, stopped his vehicle in front of them, got out and pointed a rifle at them, got back in his truck and drove away.
In the Feb. 21 trial, Bolen faces charges of assault with a weapon, robbery, burglary, theft and possession of dangerous drugs with intent to distribute.
In court in November, Catherine Lee McConnell testified that Bolen was a foster child to her and her late husband. According to court documents and Mc- Connell’s testimony, she told Lake County Sheriff’s deputy Nate Lundeen that Bolen forced her to sign a bill of sale for her 2002 Chevy Silverado pickup at gunpoint on April 4. Bolen also allegedly forced her to sign the title to the vehicle and have it notarized at a bank. Mc- Connell said Bolen traded the vehicle in Spokane for 10 pounds of marijuana.
McConnell said her home was broken into on June 14 and numerous items were taken, including a bass guitar, amplifier, Playstation 4, tools, radios, handheld radios and scopes. She added that Bolen took cash from her safe and forced her to sign personal loan checks. She also asked that her insurance company be reimbursed for her medical bills because she was attacked by his pit bull, which she said was later put down because it attacked a law enforcement officer.
“He constantly threatened me and threatened to kill my friends,” McConnell said. According to court documents, 933 grams of marijuana and drug paraphernalia were found at Bolen’s girlfriend’s St. Ignatius home on July 10.
The cases were scheduled to be handled by a plea agreement, but that fell apart due to lack of an agreement about $74,000 in restitution that the state wanted Bolen to pay.
