A Eureka man has pleaded guilty to robbery five months after he threatened an undercover cop with a gun.
Jacob Orion Sauls, 18, appeared at a change of plea hearing in Flathead County District Court on June 3. Sauls was one of four people arrested in a drug sting in Evergreen on Jan. 6.
According to the Flathead County Sheriff’s Office, a Northwest Montana Drug Task Force agent responded to a Craigslist ad implying that the online advertiser had methamphetamine for sale. The agent arranged to meet with the man who placed the ad at the Kmart parking lot in Evergreen at 5:45 p.m. on Jan. 6.
When the undercover agent arrived, Sauls and Kellen McGarry, 19 of Whitefish, got into the vehicle, according to court records. Sauls told the officer that he needed the money before he could go get the methamphetamine, but the officer refused. Sauls then reached into his waistband and stated this was a “rip” and that he was robbing the agent, according to prosecutors.
The officer, fearful for his life, handed Sauls the money and Sauls and McGarry got into a vehicle driven by Riley Landwehr, 19 of Whitefish. A 14-year-old girl was also in the vehicle. Moments later, other officers appeared and arrested the four without incident. When they searched them they found a loaded gun under Sauls’ belt.
In exchange for pleading guilty to felony robbery, prosecutors will recommend Sauls get a 15-year sentence to the Department of Corrections with 10 years suspended. Sauls will be sentenced in August.
McGarry pleaded guilty to accountability to criminal endangerment in May. Prosecutors are expected to recommend a 10-year suspended sentence to the Department of Corrections at a hearing in July. Landwehr pleaded guilty to felony criminal endangerment in April and will be sentenced in June. Prosecutors are expected to recommend a 10-year commitment to the Department of Corrections with all of the time suspended.