Man sentenced with strangulation
courtesy photo
Andrew Bigleggins
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A Ronan man was sentenced at District Court in Polson on March 31 as a persistent felony offender and given five years in the Montana State Prison on one count of strangling a partner or family member. Andrew Orlando Bigleggins, 32, was found guilty of the felony by a Lake County jury on March 2. He was acquitted on a second count of the same charge.
According to charging documents, on Jan. 20, 2020, a woman called 911 to report that Bigleggins was banging on her door. She had ended a relationship with Bigleggins the night before. She explained that she was in fear because he had strangled her on two separate occasions.
The victim said that the first time Bigleggins strangled her she should have gone to the hospital because it caused blood to come from her ear. She said she was afraid to report the incident to law enforcement because she thought Bigleggins would go to prison as he was on probation for strangling another woman.
Bigleggins was on probation having been convicted of strangulation of a partner or family member May 29, 2019. He was given three years with the Montana Department of Corrections with all suspended in that matter. That sentence was revoked and the full three years was applied with credit for five months street time and 92 days jail time.
Judge James Manley applied 205 days of credit jail time toward the five-year prison term and ran it consecutive to the three years. Bigleggins was also ordered to pay for the cost of the trial, which totaled $2,586.39, according to prosecutor Molly Owen with the Lake County Attorney’s office.
