Man pleads guilty to escape charge

A federal prisoner pleaded guilty Thursday to escaping from the Mineral County Jail last year.

Donald Schwindt, 42, pleaded guilty to the crime before U.S. Magistrate Judge Jeremiah C. Lynch during a federal court session in Missoula.

Schwindt and William D. Newhoff, 28, crawled through a hole in the ceiling of their cell in the Mineral County Detention Center to a trap door in a supply closet and fled to the road outside of the facility on Jan. 25, 2009.

They were apprehended near Troy the next day.

Newhoff pleaded guilty to the escape on May 6 before U.S. District Judge Donald W. Molloy.

Both had been incarcerated on separate federal gun cases.

Schwindt, who had been sentenced to 105 months in federal prison and three years of supervised release for being a felon in possession of a firearm, was involved in an October 2007 domestic disturbance in Creston.

Shots were fired at a Creston home and at sheriff’s deputies approaching the residence.

At the time, Schwindt was wanted for parole violations out of Oregon for unauthorized use of a motor vehicle in 1992.

Prior to federal prosecution for the Creston incident, Schwindt was charged in Flathead County with criminal endangerment, assault on a peace officer and assault with a weapon, all felonies.

Schwindt’s federal sentencing has been set for Sept. 23 and Newhoff’s is Sept. 8.

Both are currently in custody.

Schwindt and Newhoff each face up to five years in prison, $250,000 fines and at least three years of supervised release.

The investigation was a cooperative effort between the U.S. Marshals Service and the Mineral County Sheriff’s Office.