Three plead innocent to home robbery

Three men originally charged in Flathead County after allegedly robbing a Happy Valley home near Whitefish and holding a 16-year-old girl at gunpoint have pleaded not guilty to federal charges.

Stephen Acton, 27, of Libby, Kevin Gaethle, 30, of Kalispell and Bradley Thompson, 26, of Kalispell appeared in U.S. District Court in Missoula on Thursday.

All three are charged with robbery, while Acton and Thompson additionally are charged with use of a firearm during the commission of a crime of violence.

Each faces up to 20 years in prison and five years of supervised release as well as a fine of up to $250,000 if convicted of their robbery charges. Acton and Thompson also face an extra five years if convicted on the firearms charges.

According to Flathead District Court documents, two of the men entered the home on July 6, 2011, and approached the 16-year-old, who was sitting at a computer. They took her phone away and asked her where her father’s guns were.

The girl took them to the upstairs room where a gun safe was hidden in a closet, and one of the men searched the room while the other held a gun to her head. The two men then dragged the safe downstairs and called another man in a car outside.

She told police that the men said they were taking her father’s guns as payment for a debt owed them by her uncle, and that they would return the guns once the debt was paid. They then loaded the safe in the car and left.

Two neighbors also witnessed parts of the crime, one seeing the men arrive at and enter the home and the other seeing them departing the neighborhood.

Thompson was apprehended the following day for suspected shoplifting. He identified Gaethle and Acton as the other two men involved in the crime. Gaethle also was arrested the same day.

Another man, Kelly Campbell, later was arrested during a traffic stop and had some of the stolen firearms. He said he and Acton had planned a trip to Portland, Ore., to sell the guns or trade them for heroin.

Acton was picked out of a photo lineup by the 16-year-old, who said he was the one who held the gun against her head, although she said Thompson also briefly pointed a gun at her.

U.S. marshals eventually arrested Acton on July 19 in Renton, Wash., where he was found in a home with an illegal marijuana grow operation and an assault rifle.

The federal investigation into the robbery was conducted by the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms and Explosives.

The men had faced Flathead County felony charges of robbery, accountability to robbery and theft, while Acton and Thompson also faced felony charges of assault with a weapon.

Prior to their federal arraignments, those charges were dropped.

On the county charges, Acton and Thompson would have faced between two and 110 years in jail and a fine of up to $200,000. Gaethle would have faced between two and 90 years in jail and a fine of up to $150,000.

Reporter Jesse Davis may be reached at 758-4441 or by email at jdavis@dailyinterlake.com.