An Oregon fugitive who was arrested after allegedly shooting at Flathead County deputies in October 2007 has pleaded guilty to escaping from the Mineral County jail while awaiting sentencing.
Donald Schwindt entered his plea on the escape charge Thursday before U.S. Magistrate Jeremiah Lynch in Missoula.
Schwindt and 28-year-old William Newhoff crawled through a hole in the ceiling of their cell to a trap door in a supply closet and fled the facility in Superior on Jan. 25, 2009. They were apprehended near Troy the next day. Newhoff pleaded guilty to the escape on May 6.
The week after his escape, Schwindt was sentenced to nearly nine years in prison for being a felon in possession of a firearm. Those charges came after shots were fired at a Creston residence and then at responding deputies in 2007.