Federal convict pleads not guilty to local charges

A 27-year-old Kalispell man recently convicted in federal court pleaded not guilty Thursday in Flathead District Court to two felony counts of criminal distribution of dangerous drugs.

Bradley Thorpe Thompson is alleged to have sold four tenths of a gram of heroin to an informant during two transactions in February 2011.

Thompson is also facing a felony charge of burglary related to a July 2010 incident and a felony charge of issuing a bad check for allegedly writing roughly $1,350 in bad checks to businesses in Kalispell, Whitefish and Columbia Falls between November 2009 and October 2010.

If convicted on all charges in all three cases, Thompson faces between one year and two life terms plus 30 years in prison and a fine of up to $200,000.

His next hearing in the new case is set for Feb. 13, 2013.

Thompson recently pleaded guilty to federal charges of robbery and use of a firearm during the commission of a crime of violence.

Those charges stemmed from the July 2011 armed burglary of a Hare Trail home near Whitefish during which a 16-year-old girl was held at gunpoint.

He faces up to 25 years in prison, five years of supervised release and a fine of up to $250,000 when he is sentenced in the federal case.