Drug deal gone bad nets 5-year sentence

An Evergreen man accused of helping to hold a man hostage when an apparent drug deal went bad received a five-year sentence with the Montana Department of Corrections Tuesday in Flathead County District Court.

Jared Henry Lawshe pleaded guilty to criminal endangerment and theft earlier this year after reaching a plea agreement with the Flathead County Attorney’s Office. In return, prosecutors dismissed a felony count of accountability to kidnapping.

Lawshe was one of two 20-year-old men arrested after the beating and kidnapping of Scott Bishop was reported to the Kalispell Police Department April 13.

Lawshe drove Joseph Gordon Leigh as Leigh held a gun to Bishop and demanded money, according to court documents.

Leigh is awaiting sentencing after also reaching a plea agreement in which he pleaded guilty to kidnapping and criminal endangerment in exchange for a dismissed charge of assault with a weapon.

According to court documents, Bishop’s sister called Kalispell police and reported that her brother was being held at gunpoint inside a blue Dodge Eagle Talon and needed her to bring $40 to Lawrence Park to ensure his release.

Officers found the vehicle in a parking lot on the lower west side of Kalispell and converged on the vehicle containing five people, including Bishop.

Bishop told police he had been contacted by Kelsey Pollack to facilitate a drug deal for Pollack and Leigh and was given $120 to purchase methamphetamine. Bishop contacted a source and paid the money, but the source was unable to get him the drugs. When Leigh and his friends met up with Bishop and heard the news, Leigh apparently became angry, according to court documents.

Leigh showed Bishop a .45-caliber pistol and told him to get in the car, according to court documents. While in the car, Leigh allegedly put Bishop in a choke hold and began punching him in the face. Lawshe, who was driving, punched Bishop several times as they drove to Kila, according to court documents.

Once in Kila, Bishop was ordered out of the car and Leigh told him to remove his clothes, then searched him for the money or drugs, and apparently told him he should shoot him in the foot.

They then located Bishop’s source and began a high-speed chase to catch the source, who was eventually called on the phone and convinced to stop. The source gave Leigh $80.

Leigh told Bishop he still owed $40 and that if he couldn’t get the money, he would be forced to go to North Dakota with Leigh. Leigh’s sister was called for the $40, and police located the vehicle a short time later.

Lawshe and Leigh are being held in the Flathead County Detention Center.

District Court Judge Ted Lympus sentenced Lawshe to two five-year sentences, but suspended five years. He’s also required to pay $3,111 in restitution.