Page 24 - Flathead Beacon // 4.27.16

ROUNDUP
FROM BEACON STAFF AND WIRE SERVICES
4 93 2
90
THOMPSON FALLS
2
15 2
2
1
3
KALISPELL
93
5
GREAT FALLS
MISSOULA
BUTTE 6
BOZEMAN
15
90 15
HELENA
7
BILLINGS
90
the divorce case. He illegally added to the lien $2,300 in fees the client owed him from an earlier case, the o ce said. He then billed his client $3,200 for attorney fees incurred while he tried to collect his fees in the divorce case.
The foreclosure suit ended in May 2013 with a $34,000 judgment against Tennant’s client.
The O ce of Disciplinary Council said Tennant used inside information about his client’s nancial circumstances and created a limited liability corporation to buy his client’s property for $34,000 in September 2013. The two lots were put on the market for $80,000 each. If they sell, the disciplinary council claims Ten- nant will have charged an excessive fee in addition to those already levied against the client.
CRESTON
3. Bigfork Man Killed in Collision with Log Truck
A Bigfork man was killed the after- noon of April 21 after the pickup truck he was driving collided with a log truck near Creston.
The wreck was reported shortly after 4 p.m. on Montana Highway 35. The driver of the pickup truck was pronounced dead at the scene.
The Flathead County Sheri ’s O ce has identi ed the man as 52-year-old Donald Spranger Jr. of Bigfork.
Montana Highway Patrol Trooper Jason Fredenberg said the pickup truck was traveling south when it crossed the centerline toward the log truck. The northbound log truck tried to swerve out of the way, but the pickup struck the log truck’s trailer. The log truck lost part of its load.
Fredenberg said it’s unclear why the pickup truck crossed the centerline and the cause is still under investigation.
BLACKFEET INDIAN RESERVATION
4. Oil Company Charged in 2011 Spill
That Polluted Stream
An oil and gas company faces criminal charges for a 2011 oil spill that prosecu- tors said went unreported for a month, in
94
288410_5_x_6.1.indd 1
4/21/16 9:29 AM
1. Woman Facing Charges in Sanders
County Shooting Death
A 31-year-old woman is facing a delib- erate homicide charge after police say she admitted to fatally shooting a man east of Trout Creek last year.
The Billings Gazette reports that Jenna Michael appeared in court last week and was ordered to be jailed on $100,000 bond. She was arrested by the U.S. Marshal’s Violent O ender Task Force in Billings on April 18 in connec- tion with the July 9 death of 54-year-old Marvin Gallaher.
She has been ordered to remain in the Yellowstone County Jail until her extra- dition back to Sanders County.
Court documents say Michael admit- ted to using illegal drugs with Gallaher before she shot him in Thompson Falls near the Vermillion River Drainage.
Booking documents do not indicate if Michael has hired an attorney.
KALISPELL
2. Attorney Denies Professional
Misconduct Charges
A Kalispell attorney put a lien on a cli- ent’s property for nonpayment of fees, pursued foreclosure and then anony- mously bought the property for well below market value at a sheri ’s auction, the state’s O ce of Disciplinary Counsel said.
The o ce led seven counts of pro- fessional misconduct against David Ten- nant, alleging Tennant continued to rep- resent his client in a divorce case even after ling the lien in February 2012, cre- ating a con ict of interest.
Tennant was recently appointed as the Libby city attorney. He was con rmed by the city council last week.
Tennant told The Associated Press he hadn’t represented the man for two years before he sought foreclosure on the prop- erty and that his contract with the man included provisions for collection e orts.
The charges allege Tennant led a lien for $24,000 against two residential lots near Columbia Falls the man received in
356 Total Panels 262 Sold to date
94 Remaining panels
24
APRIL 27, 2016 // FLATHEADBEACON.COM