Ambrozuk to go home

A Canadian man responsible for the 1982 drowning death of his girlfriend after crashing a plane into Bitterroot Lake is expected to be deported immediately, according to his lawyer.

Jaroslaw "Jerry" Ambrozuk, 43, was sentenced Thursday in a Sherman, Texas, federal courtroom to 4 1/2 months in prison for illegally obtaining an American passport.

After being given credit for time served, and facing no more charges in the United States, Ambrozuk is eligible for immediate release from U.S. custody and will be turned over to U.S. Immigration and Customs Enforcement for deportation to Canada, according to a statement from his attorney, Chuck Watson, of Bozeman.

Before being returned to Texas to face the federal passport charges, Ambrozuk pleaded guilty in Flathead County District Court to one count of felony criminal endangerment and one count of felony criminal mischief. He initially pleaded guilty to negligent homicide, but withdrew it after deciding to go to trial. A plea agreement with prosecutors on the criminal endangerment and criminal mischief charges was reached two days before the trial was scheduled to begin.

Ambrozuk was given two 10-year suspended sentences to run concurrently. In June, Flathead District Court Judge Stewart Stadler ruled Ambrozuk 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 family of the drowned woman for funeral expenses.

A fugitive for 24 years, Ambrozuk was arrested in August 2006 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 Diane 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 220 feet under water in Montana.

Investigators know Ambrozuk told a friend he was able to swim free of the wreckage but that Babcock's seat belt 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 so badly that she couldn't have escaped.

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.

Reporter Nicholas Ledden can be reached at 758-4441 or by e-mail at nledden@dailyinterlake.com