Page 15 - Flathead Beacon // 4.13.16

NEWS
COURT BEAT
community
banking partner
IDAHO STREET BANK
233 E Idaho St. Kalispell, MT 59901 755-4271
MERIDIAN ROAD BANK
552 N Meridian Rd. Kalispell, MT 59901 755-5432
www.ThreeRiversBankMontana.com
A Locally Owned, Independent Community Bank Since 1974
Man Sentenced to Prison for Vehicular Homicide
your
Matthew Michael Hollo was sentenced to prison following the a fatal drunk-driving crash on the North Fork Road that left an Omaha doctor dead
BY JUSTIN FRANZ OF THE BEACON
During an emotional, three-hour hearing on April 5, a Colum- bia Falls man convicted of vehicular homicide was sentenced to 30 years in the Montana State Prison with 20 suspended.
Matthew Michael Hollo, 24, was drunk when he drove head-on into another vehicle on the North Fork Road on June 6, 2015. The collision killed the driver of the other vehicle, 68-year-old Timo- thy R. Fangman, a doctor from Omaha, Nebraska.
Hollo was charged with vehicular homicide while under the in uence in August 2015. He initially pleaded not guilty but changed his plea in January.
During the hearing before Judge Robert Allison, the court heard testimony from the victim’s brother-in-law and son. Both men said they did not feel “hatred” toward Hollo for what he had done but they wanted justice to be served. The brother-in-law, John Reins, also said he hoped Hollo confronted his alcoholism.
“Confront your demons and please never have another drink for the rest of your life,” Reins said.
Defense attorney Paul Ryan then guided the court through tes- timony from several of Hollo’s friends and family, painting a pic- ture of a man with a bright future who made a tragic mistake. The court also learned that Hollo had a prior DUI conviction in 2013.
Hollo’s father, Hal Hollo, said his son was a kind and caring person but grew distant in high school. He said Matthew spent time with friends of whom Hal Hollo did not approve and that had resulted in the 24-year-old’s struggles with alcohol. Hal Hollo said following the crash, however, his son has changed greatly and that he believed the young man felt remorseful.
Tracy DeReu, the mother of Matthew Hollo’s ancé, urged the court not to send the defendant to prison. During the testi- mony, DeReu talked about how her own brother was killed in a drunk-driving wreck and that she had hoped the defendant in that case had been rehabilitated instead of being sent to prison. She said the man who killed her brother in 1993 could have been helped, but instead came out of prison in a worse situation.
“It was a lose-lose situation,” she said. “I wish there had been a better ending for that tragedy.”
Lastly, Hollo’s ancé, 18-year-old Mackenzie DeReu, spoke to the court about how last year’s fatal wreck has changed her
Matthew Hollo is sentenced in Flathead County District Court. GREG LINDSTROM | FLATHEAD BEACON
future husband.
“Matthew is heartbroken by what happened and I see what
it has done to him,” she said as she broke down on the stand. “I see how sad he is and I know that if he could take back what happened that day he would.”
Before the attorney made their closing arguments, Hollo made a brief statement to the court, apologizing to the mem- bers of Fangman’s family who were in the room.
“I am truly sorry for all the pain that I have caused the friends and family of Timothy Fangman,” he said. “I take full responsi- bly for my choices on June 6 of last year.”
Following Hollo’s statement, prosecutors recommended a 30-year sentence to the Montana State Prison with 20 years suspended. The defense argued for a lesser sentence to the Department of Corrections, noting that Hollo could possibly share his story of drinking and driving with young people in hopes of helping them avoid his mistakes.
In the end, Judge Allison sided with the prosecution, send- ing Hollo to the Montana State Prison and forcing him to pay a $5,000 ne. Hollo will also undergo addiction treatment before being eligible for parole.
“You will have a chance to be with your family again, a chance Timothy Fangman will never have,” Allison said.
BRIEFS
Kalispell Man Sentenced to 100 Years in Prison Following Retrial for Rape
A Kalispell man has been sentenced to the Montana State Prison for 100 years after he was convicted at a new trial for raping an 11-year-old girl nearly a decade ago.
Jason Franks’ sentencing hearing came nearly two months after a jury con- victed him during a February retrial that was ordered by the Montana Supreme Court. The high court reversed Franks’ 2012 conviction because it ruled prosecu- tors had gone too far by referencing a sep- arate molestation accusation against the defendant to create the impression that he was a habitual abuser of children.
Franks was previously convicted of sexual assault in 1992 and was acquitted in a molestation case involving a 5-year- old in the 2000s.
The Kalispell man was brought to trial a third time in 2012 after an 11-year- old girl told her father that Franks had
raped her in 2006. It was during that trial that prosecutors made reference to the failed molestation case, something the Montana Supreme Court justices felt violated Franks’ right to a fair trial.
Franks was charged again and con- victed of sexual intercourse without con- sent in February.
At the start of the April 7 sentencing hearing, Franks dismissed his attorney and proceeded to represent himself.
During the hearing, the court heard testimony from the victim of the crime who is now 20 years old. The woman told the court how traumatizing it was to go through two trials but that it was noth- ing compared to what Franks had put her through a decade earlier.
“I hope you rot in hell for eternity after you rot in prison for the rest of your life,” the woman said.
Prior to the sentencing recommen- dation, Franks told the court that he was innocent of all charges.
jfranz@ atheadbeacon.com
Prosecutors recommended a 100- year sentence to the Montana State Prison and Franks agreed with that punishment.
“For the sake of me and the community, please give me life in prison so that I never have to be accused of this again,” he said.
Judge Robert Allison then sentenced to 100 years with the Montana State Prison. The judge also stipulated that Franks get credit for time served, be des- ignated a level two sex o ender and com- plete sexual o ender treatment prior to being eligible for parole. Allison also added that should Franks ever be paroled that he be given hormone-suppression drugs before he is released.
Montana became the second state in the nation to approve the use of “chem- ical castration” in 1997. The drug is administered a week before the prisoner is released and reduces the subject’s sex
drive.www.ThreeRiversBankMontana.com news@ atheadbeacon.com
APRIL 13, 2016 // FLATHEADBEACON.COM
15