Ambrozuk makes plea deal

Agreement recommends 10 years suspended for 1982 plane crash that killed woman

Jaroslaw "Jerry" Ambrozuk may serve between 17 and 23 months in jail as a result of a last-minute plea agreement entered Thursday in Flathead County District Court.

That time includes the nine months spent in Flathead County jail since his Aug. 30, 2006, arrest.

He is charged in the plane-crash death of Dianne Babcock. She drowned Aug. 22, 1982, when the young Canadian couple rented a plane and Ambrozuk flew them from British Columbia into Montana's Little Bitterroot Lake west of Kalispell - allegedly to start a new life in the United States.

Ambrozuk had just turned 19, and Babcock was not quite 19.

"I loved Dianne very much, and I take responsibility," Ambrozuk told Flathead County Attorney Ed Corrigan.

In the latest of a series of plea changes and amended charges, Ambrozuk pleaded guilty to two felonies Thursday - criminal endangerment, for what he said was an attempt to land the small plane on the lake's surface, even though he was unqualified to do so; and criminal mischief, for crashing it into the lake.

The Montana statute allowing criminal endangerment was not created until 1987, but Ambrozuk agreed to applying it retroactively.

In exchange, Corrigan agreed to drop charges of negligent homicide and theft.

For his guilty plea to the two felonies, attorneys are recommending that Ambrozuk receive two concurrent 10-year suspended sentences.

But Ambrozuk now must plead guilty in Texas to a federal charge of passport fraud, for allegedly applying for a passport under an assumed identify of Michael Smith. He used that identity during at least part of his 24 years on the lam.

Federal sentencing guidelines set the passport-fraud penalty between eight and 14 months in prison. With credit for "good time," Ambrozuk could serve as little as 85 percent of his federal sentence.

Ambrozuk almost must pay restitution for the plane, burial expenses for Dianne to the Babcock family, and court costs. And he cannot enter into any contracts for books, TV shows or other documentaries for which he could profit from the events.

District Judge Kitty Curtis accepted Ambrozuk's guilty plea Thursday.

But it is up to District Judge Stewart Stadler to hand down a sentence during a hearing at 1 p.m. Monday.

That was the day Ambrozuk's five-day jury trial on felony charges of negligent homicide, theft and criminal mischief was set to begin.

Corrigan agreed on the sentencing recommendation with Ambrozuk's team of attorneys, Pat Sherlock of Kalispell, and Chuck Watson and Larry Jent of Bozeman.

"It's one of those things that a guilty plea is the best course for everybody," Watson said after Thursday's hearing.

Watson said he and Jent are working up a federal sentencing recommendation now, and seeking a federal prosecutor in Plano, Texas. That is the U.S. District Court headquarters for the Eastern District of Texas, where Ambrozuk is charged.

He said their recommendation generally will fall in line with federal sentencing guidelines of eight to 14 months, but the sentence is up to the judge.

Corrigan said he has "some mixed emotions" about the latest development.

"The Babcocks don't believe their daughter was a willing participant, so they're not satisfied," Corrigan said. "I am convinced she was a willing participant."

He listed mitigating factors that convinced him the sentencing recommendation is appropriate - the teens thought they could pull off their plan to vanish into the U.S. and start a new life, Babcock participated in the planning, and Ambrozuk was not intoxicated as he piloted the plane.

"For 25 years, he has not been a danger to society," Corrigan said, and seems to have "rehabilitated" himself. "It's time for everyone to get on with their lives."

During testimony, Ambrozuk admitted during questions from Watson that he knew that landing the plane created a "substantial risk" to Babcock by putting her at risk of serious bodily injury.

He also knew the plane would be damaged or destroyed, he said.

But he told Corrigan that both of them had agreed to the flight from their Vancouver, B.C., homes for a day of recreation at Penticton. From there, only the two of them knew of their subsequent plans to fly into Montana, he said.

"We planned it for months," he said.

When they reached the Little Bitterroot Lake area, he admitted under Corrigan's questioning, he turned off the landing lights and cut the engine to avoid being seen or heard.

Although a licensed pilot, he admitted he was not certified for instrument or night-time flight.

He attempted to pull off a "tripod landing," he said. He added that his flight instructor had told a group of pilots in training that small aircraft doing that type of emergency landing, without pontoons, should be able to float between 10 and 30 minutes before sinking.

But it didn't work that way, he said.

"The plane hit the water like hitting a cement wall," Ambrozuk said, admitting he had never attempted the maneuver before that night. "It flipped over."

Traveling at an estimated speed of 40 -50 mph at impact, the plane cartwheeled from nose to tail and headed for the bottom of the lake. Ambrozuk freed himself, but Sherlock has said that Babcock's seat-belt latch was flipped so it could not be released easily under water.

She drowned in the plane, but Ambrozuk grabbed a few things and escaped to the surface.

Reporter Nancy Kimball can be reached at 758-4483 or by e-mail at nkimball@dailyinterlake.com