Under a plea agreement filed Tuesday, Kalispell Republican state Sen. Greg Barkus will plead no contest to felony criminal endangerment as part of a deal on charges stemming from an Aug. 27, 2009 boat crash that injured five people.
The plea agreement imposes a three-year deferred sentence and dismisses the other two felony charges of negligent vehicular assault. District Judge John McKeon of Malta must approve of the deal and schedule a change-of-plea hearing.
According to court documents filed by Barkus’ attorney Todd Glazier, the deferred sentence could end after 18 months if there are no violations. Barkus has also agreed to pay the state $4,000 in restitution.
The agreement is signed by Barkus, Glazier and Flathead County Attorney Ed Corrigan. Barkus initially pleaded not guilty to the three felony charges, which carried a maximum sentence of 30 years in prison.
The Barkus trial had been tentatively scheduled for Nov. 29 over the alcohol-related charges. Prosecutors say Barkus’ blood alcohol content was 0.16, twice the legal limit, when taken two hours after the accident. Barkus was driving his boat east across Flathead Lake, from Lakeside to Bigfork, when it crashed into a rocky outcropping near Wayfarer’s State Park at high speed.
U.S. Rep. Denny Rehberg, R-Mont., was among those passengers seriously injured in the crash, as well as two of Rehberg’s staff members. Rehberg’s former state director, Dustin Frost, was in a coma for more than a week following the accident. Kristin Smith, deputy chief of staff for Rehberg, and Barkus’ wife were also injured.
In an interview, Glazier called the plea deal “very common,” for someone charged with a felony for the first time to receive a deferment, and emphasized that Barkus, the Senate majority whip in the 2009 Legislature, was not enjoying any preferential treatment.
“He’s not gaining a benefit because he’s a politician,” Glazier said. “He’s gotten hit a lot harder than 90 percent of these cases.”
Reached Wednesday, Barkus declined to comment, saying, “it’s still in the judge’s hands,” but called the accident and its aftermath over the last year-and-a-half, “one of the toughest things I’ve endured.”