Man sentenced for bail jumping
The Daily Inter Lake
A Kalispell man accused of threatening to beat up a man who owed him money - and then forcing him to stand in the Flathead River - was sentenced Tuesday on felony bail jumping charges.
During the hearing in Flathead County District Court, Mark Robert Irvine, 46, was ordered to serve nine years at Montana State Prison followed by a year of probation.
Pursuant to a plea bargain, robbery and assault with a weapon charges against Irvine were dropped.
After charges were filed in connection with the November 2008 incident at the Flathead River, Irvine spent weeks as a wanted man. He was arrested in February at his home on Second Avenue West after Kalispell police received a tip he was at the residence.
According to court documents, Irvine and three other men brought the alleged victim to the Presentine Bar area of the Flathead River and then robbed him of $30.
Only one of the other three men involved was arrested and charged with one count of accountability to robbery.
Irvine and the alleged victim reportedly were in a dispute over $60 in unpaid rent.
After driving the alleged victim from a home on Ridgewood Drive in Evergreen to the river and then taking his money, the suspects pulled out aluminum baseball bats and threatened to beat the man unless he jumped into the river, prosecutors alleged.
At the time of the incident, Irvine was serving a 10-year probationary sentence for burglary. He had been convicted of stealing property from a neighbor and was ordered to pay more than $40,000 in restitution.
Irvine, whose conviction for bail jumping revoked his probation, also was sentenced Tuesday to 10 years at Montana State Prison with one year suspended for that burglary. The sentences will run concurrently.
Irvine was arrested in July 2008 for resisting arrest, obstructing police, and having a dog at large - all misdemeanors - after Kalispell police officers shot his pit bull. Irvine alleged the shooting was unprovoked. Officers said the dog was charging.
Irvine, who was found guilty during a trial in Kalispell Municipal Court, is scheduled to be sentenced Friday on these other charges.