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Man Who Fired Gun at Marion Bar Pleads Guilty

Leif Logan Lee appeared in Flathead County District Court on Nov. 19

By Justin Franz

A Eureka man has pleaded guilty to two counts of criminal endangerment and one count of drug possession, five months after he shot at two people at a Marion bar and later sold meth to a police informant.

Leif Logan Lee appeared at a change of plea hearing in Flathead County District Court on Nov. 19.

According to court documents, Lee was at the Rail Line Tavern early in the morning of June 14. Witnesses say that after last call Lee got into an altercation in the parking lot with a woman.

During the altercation, another man tried to intervene and Lee took out a gun. The man tried to grab the gun but Lee fired the weapon twice. One bullet struck the man in the arm and hand and another struck the woman in the arm. Lee then fled on his motorcycle.

The woman received serious injuries in the shooting and was taken to Kalispell Regional Medical Center before being transported to Seattle for additional surgery.

The following day, Lee called the police and admitted to firing his gun at the bar early on June 14. Lee was apprehended later that week.

In September, Lee took a deal to plead guilty to two counts of criminal endangerment but just days after his change of plea hearing he was arrested again and charged with two counts of criminal distribution of dangerous drugs.

According to those charging documents, the Northwest Montana Drug Task Force learned that Lee was allegedly selling drugs out of his home in Eureka in August. On Aug. 19, officers met with a confidential informant and outfitted him with a recording device and $700 to pay Lee a past drug debt.

When Lee met with the informant, he indicated that he had more drugs to sell and gave the informant about $900 worth of meth. In early September, Lee called the police informant asking him to pay him for the meth he had gotten earlier. Lee said he was heading to Kalispell on Sept. 8 and agreed to meet him at the Home Depot parking lot. Lee and the informant met in the parking lot and completed the sale. Lee was arrested immediately.

On Nov. 19, Lee took a deal in which he would plead guilty to two charges of felony criminal endangerment stemming from the June shooting and one charge of criminal distribution of dangerous drugs from the August incident. The second charge of criminal distribution was dropped. In the plea agreement, attorneys will argue that Lee get 20 years to the Department of Corrections with five years suspended for all three charges.

Lee will be sentenced before District Court Judge Amy Eddy on Jan. 21, 2016.