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Eureka Man Pleads Guilty to Robbing Officer
Jacob Orion Sauls appeared in Flathead County District Court on June 3
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BY JUSTIN FRANZ OF THE BEACON
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 White- fish, 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 offi- cer 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 over the money and Sauls and McGarry got into a vehicle driven by Riley Landwehr, 19 of Whitefish. A
BRIEFS
Canadian Accused of Having 100 Pounds of Cocaine
A Canadian man is facing a felony drug charge after a Montana Highway Patrol officer says he found about 100 pounds of cocaine in the man’s pickup truck during a routine traffic stop the night of June 4.
Deputy Lake County Attorney James Lapotka said 22-year-old Miguel Douglas Miranda of Calgary, Alberta was charged June 5 with one count of criminal pos- session of dangerous drugs with intent to distribute.
Miranda was pulled over in a 2006 GMC Sierra by a Montana Highway Patrol trooper at about 8 p.m. for a mud flap violation near St. Ignatius on U.S. Highway 93.
An officer with a K-9 unit found about 40 kilograms of cocaine estimated to be worth up to $1.5 million in a hidden com- partment in the vehicle. The drugs were seized by the Department of Homeland Security.
KERR-AM reports Miranda recently earned a bachelor’s degree in mechanical engineering. He is being held in the Lake County Jail in Polson on $1 million bond.
The Montana Highway Patrol is investigating.
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Jacob Sauls appears for an arraignment in Flathead County District Court. GREG LINDSTROM | FLATHEAD BEACON
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 fel- ony robbery, prosecutors will recom- mend Sauls receive a 15-year sentence to the Department of Corrections with 10 years suspended. Sauls will be sentenced in August.
McGarry pleaded guilty to
Two Arrested Following Evergreen Car Chase
Two people were arrested June 1 after leading police on a car chase through Evergreen with a stolen car, according to the Flathead County Sheriff’s Office.
Roger William Gillepsie, 27, has been charged with felony theft and Nina Sari Reynolds, 28, has been charged with criminal possession of dangerous drugs and criminal contempt.
According to Sheriff Chuck Curry, police received a tip from a citizen saying that they just saw their friend’s recently stolen car behind the old Wal-Mart in Evergreen. When sheriff deputies arrived, they saw the vehicle pull out of a nearby casino parking lot and they tried to pull it over. The vehicle then sped off and police chased it around Evergreen for about 10 minutes. Gillepsie and Reynolds then allegedly parked the vehicle near the Evergreen fire station on U.S. Highway 2 and took off on foot. Both were taken into custody within 5 minutes.
Both Gillepsie and Reynolds are still in custody at the Flathead County Deten- tion Center.
accountability to criminal endanger- ment in May. Prosecutors are expected to recommend a 10-year suspended sen- tence 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 Depart- ment of Corrections with all of the time suspended.
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Health Clinic Vandal to be Sentenced June 16
The Columbia Falls man who broke into a Kalispell health clinic in 2014 is set to be sentenced in Flathead County Dis- trict Court on June 16. Zachary Klundt, 25, pleaded guilty to charges of burglary, criminal mischief and theft, all felonies, stemming from a break-in at All Families Healthcare. The incident made headlines because the clinic was the only in the val- ley to provide abortions.
Klundt said he was intoxicated and looking for drugs when he broke into the clinic. According to court documents, prosecutors will recommend Klundt be sent to the Montana State Prison for 20 years, with 15 years suspended, for bur- glary. They also recommend he receive two 10-year suspended sentences for theft and criminal mischief.
According to charging documents, Klundt broke into the clinic on the night of March 3, 2014 and vandalized the facil- ity, damaging furniture, medical instru- ments and supplies, as well as filing cabi- nets. Further investigation into the base- ment of the First Avenue East building revealed damage to the main sewer line, the furnace and the water heater.
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JUNE 10, 2015 // FLATHEADBEACON.COM
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