Sentence in money-laundering case does not include prison term

The Daily Inter Lake

Brendon Keith Retz of Whitefish was sentenced in U.S. District Court in Missoula to five years of probation for improperly obtaining cash advances on his credit cards. An earlier story in the Inter Lake incorrectly said Retz had been sentenced to prison.

During sentencing Nov. 18, he also was ordered to serve three months of house arrest with electronic monitoring, perform 500 hours of community service, and pay a $900 court assessment with no fine.

Retz, an owner of Timberland Construction LLC, pleaded guilty in June to improperly obtaining approximately $197,000 from various credit card companies, according to federal court documents.

Retz's attorney, John E. Smith, of Missoula, stated: "Retz's former business partner pressed the government to investigate every aspect of Retz's financial and business dealings between 2000 and 2007. The credit card charges were all that resulted from the four-year investigation."

The credit-card companies suffered no loss because, as U.S. District Court Judge Donald W. Molloy found, "the money was repaid before any crime was discovered."

The transactions occurred more than five years ago in 2003, when Retz was encountering financial difficulties as a result of litigation with his then business partner. The court recognized these circumstances and said, "…there is little likelihood that he [Retz] would engage in this kind of conduct in the future."