Man sentenced for felony theft

The Daily Inter Lake

A man who bilked customers through a car-consignment lot was sentenced Thursday in Flathead District Court.

Shane Walker, 42, received a five-year suspended sentence for felony theft. He was ordered to pay about $62,000 in restitution.

County Attorney Ed Corrigan said Walker operated Crossroad Motors, where he sold vehicles for people and kept the proceeds without providing the owners with the vehicle titles.

Corrigan said there were seven or eight victims.

One of them was Rick Mowles, 57, of the McGregor Lake area.

"I'll probably be dead by the time it's paid off," Mowles said of Walker's restitution.

In fall 2004, Mowles had Walker sell his Ford Lariat diesel truck, with Walker agreeing to use some of the sales money to pay off a lien against the truck.

Walker neither paid the lien nor gave Mowles his money, Mowles said.

That led to a $30,000 debt for Mowles, who ended up tangling with banks, paying legal fees and unsuccessfully trying to recover his truck.

A Vietnam War veteran on 100-percent disability due to post-traumatic stress, Mowles suffered a heart attack a few months ago.

"I'm just mentally wore out dealing with this thing," he said.

Corrigan said his main goal was trying to get restitution for Walker's victims.

"I'm happy with the way it turned out," Corrigan said.

Walker, who has declared bankruptcy, now lives in Billings, Corrigan said.