Burglar headed to prison for 20 years
A Kalispell man who burglarized the South Kalispell Fire Department is headed to prison for 20 years.
Lawrence Cowgill, 41, initially was charged with felony counts of burglary and theft after breaking into the fire hall and stealing a turnout coat, weather gear, a flashlight, radios, pagers, a siren, a portable radio and a headlamp on March 27.
He had been released from the Montana State Prison on pre-release — a transition center moving inmates from prison into the community — just three weeks prior to the charges being filed.
Cowgill was convicted in 1997 of a pair of felony burglary charges and given a 15-year suspended sentence. In 1999, he was found to have violated his sentence and it was re-suspended in its entirety, in effect starting his sentence over.
His sentence was again revoked and again re-suspended in its entirety in 2001, then revoked yet again in 2004, when he pleaded guilty to felony driving under the influence.
The combination of his third revocation and the new conviction brought Cowgill a total sentence, handed down in 2005, of 10 years in the Montana State Prison and an additional five years, suspended.
Cowgill was released early, and was again found to have violated his sentence in 2010. He was again sentenced to 10 years in the Montana State Prison with an additional five years, suspended, on June 17, 2010.
In addition to prison time, District Judge Heidi Ulbricht ordered Cowgill to pay $500 in restitution to the fire department and another $13 to an insurance company as well as a $400 public defender fee.
Hungry Horse man pleads guilty to custodial interference
A 28-year-old Hungry Horse man has admitted taking his 1-year-old son from his grandparents after losing custody of the child.
Beau Blasius pleaded guilty Sept. 5 in Flathead District Court to felony charges of custodial interference and burglary.
Blasius and his girlfriend Bryndi Gibson, 23, the mother of child, showed up at Blasius’ parents’ house in the middle of the night on April 27, 2012, and took the child.
Gibson then picked him and the child up in a pickup truck she had been borrowing from a friend, who had not given her permission to use the truck.
A court document states Gibson, Blasius, and the child were later located along with the truck in Fife, Wash.
The couple lost temporary custody of the child in April, which a court document states Blasius said was due to a drug problem.
Both were initially charged with felony counts of custodial interference and theft, while Blasius was also charged with felony burglary.
Blasius’ theft charge was dismissed in exchange for his guilty plea to the other charges as well as to a charge of felony issuing a bad check in another case.
He now faces up to 40 years in prison and a fine of up to $150,000 when he is sentenced Oct. 17.
Gibson pleaded guilty to both her charges on Aug. 1. According to a plea agreement, the Flathead County Attorney’s Office will recommend a 10-year suspended sentence when she is sentenced on Sept. 24.