Island owner sentenced for assault on flight

MINNEAPOLIS — The owner of Cromwell Island in Flathead Lake has been sentenced for assaulting a woman on board his private plane.

Robert M. Lee, 84, of Reno, Nev., was sentenced Wednesday in federal court in Minneapolis to 180 days of probation, including 30 days of home confinement, and 60 hours of community service.

Lee was fined $5,000 and ordered to give the victim $431 in restitution and a letter of apology.

Lee pleaded guilty last July to misdemeanor assault. 

Court documents say Lee was traveling from Arizona to a hospital in Rochester, Minn., on Sept. 21, 2010, when he grabbed a paramedic and twisted her breast.

When the woman told Lee not to touch her, he replied, “I can do whatever I want. This is my airplane.”

He also told a nurse aboard his $37 million Gulfstream jet that “she should be wearing a V-neck shirt so that he could slide his hand in her shirt more easily.” 

Because the incident occurred aboard an airplane flying over the territorial United States, it is considered a federal crime.

Lee built a multimillion-dollar mansion on Cromwell Island and also owns land along the shore of Flathead Lake near the island.

He made a name for himself internationally as a safari leader, conservationist and outfitter with a tony boutique in New York.

Described in one publication as “an avid explorer, writer and conservationist,” Lee was the founder of Hunting World, an outfitter specializing in leather goods and bags.

He originally began designing safari gear — he claimed to have led expeditions in 17 countries — but it morphed into a business selling Italian-designed luxury luggage, duffels and handbags.

Hunting World later was bought by a Japanese company.