Courts

A Polson man was sentenced at District Court in Polson on Aug. 19 to twenty years in the Montana State Prison with none of that time suspended for violating conditions of probation on a sex assault conviction in 2009. Jesse James Finley, 30, was initially charged with sexual intercourse without consent for having sex with a 13-year-old girl in the summer of 2009. After admitting to having sex with the girl, Finley entered into a plea agreement that reduced the charge to sexual assault. He had sentencing deferred for four years and was ordered to attend the state’s Treasure State boot camp program. Finley’s post conviction troubles began when he failed to complete the progr...

News from Lake County Sheriff Don Bell LAKE COUNTY – At about 3 a.m. on Sunday, Aug. 15, Lake County deputies and Flathead Tribal Police responded to a report of a male shooting at people in the St. Mary’s Lake Road area of St. Ignatius.   Upon arrival, officers conducted an investig...

A Ronan man who was set to go to trial for an assault with a weapon charge at District Court in Polson on Aug. 17 changed his plea to guilty. Amiel Jon Gardipe Jr., 22, admitted to using a machete to seriously cut the hand of a woman at a residence on Canyon Mill Road. The motive was the theft of $5. A...

An Arlee man facing extradition to Yellowstone County on charges of vehicular homicide is also accused of assaulting his former girlfriend and her daughter in Lake County. Dominick Anthony Buccelli, 27, entered a plea of not guilty at District Court in Polson on Aug. 20 to felony charges of strangulation ...

A former detention officer with the Lake County Sheriff’s Office has admitted to her role in providing a mobile phone to an inmate in the Lake County jail.  Korren Katelyn Fehrenbach, 25, of Polson, entered a plea of guilty at District Court in Polson on Aug. 10 to misdemeanor charges of transf...

Kyro Antonio Swimmer, 21, of Polson, admitted to his role in a string of vehicle thefts and a burglary in Polson District Court on Aug. 12.  Swimmer entered a plea of guilty to one count of burglary for breaking into the Confederated Salish and Kootenai Tribes’ forestry building in Ronan on Nov...

Two Lake County women, D’anja Lesley Charlo, 19, of Elmo, and Kiirstyn Nicole Fairchild, 19, of Polson, entered pleas of not guilty at District Court in Polson on Aug. 12 to charges stemming from an armed robbery at a Ronan residence on July 27. According to court records, a man reported to law enfo...

A Pablo man is facing drug possession and criminal endangerment charges after a high-speed pursuit with law enforcement in July. Shawn Curtis Shourds, 41, entered a plea of not guilty in Polson District Court on Aug. 5 to charges of criminal endangerment and two counts criminal possession of dangerous dru...

A Charlo man has been committed to the Montana Department of Corrections for ten years with five years suspended on a felony theft charge. Todd Micheal Lozeau, 36, was also committed to a total of five years DOC, all suspended, on another felony theft charge and five years suspended for tampering with or fab...

A young man who came to Montana from Honolulu, Hawaii, in hopes of playing linebacker for the University of Montana football team, admitted to his role in a pursuit with law enforcement last March.  Caine Fitiausi-Fung, 19, entered a plea of guilty in Polson District Court on July 29 to felony crimin...