Ambrozuk ordered to pay $34,500
In one of the final chapters of a 25-year saga, Jaroslaw "Jerry" Ambrozuk was ordered to pay $34,500 in restitution and $1,000 in fines Thursday as part of his sentence for the 1982 death of Dianne Babcock.
Flathead District Court Judge Stewart Stadler ruled Ambrozuk, 43, must pay $19,500 to the owner of the plane he crashed in Bitterroot Lake, $10,000 in prosecution and court costs, and $5,000 to the Babcock's family for funeral expenses.
The original plea agreement had Ambrozuk paying $10,000 in fines and just $10,500 for the crashed plane, but the plane's owner had spent almost $20,000 to repair it, so Stadler increased the money owed to the plane's owner by $9,000 while decreasing the fine by the same amount, leaving Ambrozuk on the hook for the same total sum that was listed in the court's pre-sentencing agreement.
"The purpose of the statute is to make the victims of a crime as whole as we possibly can," said Corrigan during his argument. "Quite frankly, I think [the victims] are being very reasonable in their requests."
But it may be some time before anybody sees their restitution money because Ambrozuk's assets are impounded in Texas, his attorneys said.
Ambrozuk pleaded guilty to one count of felony criminal endangerment and one count of felony criminal mischief in May.
He will be returned to Texas next week to plead guilty to federal charges stemming from the use of a false name on his U.S. passport, a felony.
A fugitive for 24 years, Ambrozuk was arrested last August in Plano, Texas, on a Flathead County murder warrant.
Police say Ambrozuk, then 19, crashed a rented Cessna 150 into Bitterroot Lake on Aug. 22, 1982. His passenger, the 18-year-old Babcock, drowned. Ambrozuk disappeared.
It was the suspicious circumstances surrounding the crash that police say drew their attention. Police say the plane was supposed to be flying from Penticton, British Columbia, to Vancouver but somehow ended up in Montana, 220 feet under water.
Investigators know Ambrozuk told a friend he was able to swim free of the wreckage but Babcock's seat belt was jammed and he was unable to free her. When police found the plane, with Babcock's body still inside, they said the seat belt wasn't jammed and she didn't appear injured to the point of not being able to escape.
And after the crash, Ambrozuk didn't report the accident or call for help. He moved to a different state, adopted an alias, and picked up a new Social Security number.
Producers of the television show "America's Most Wanted" noticed the case and twice featured stories on Ambrozuk's suspicious disappearance.
Reporter Nicholas Ledden may be reached at 748-4441 or by e-mail at nledden@dailyinterlake.com