Medal thief receives five-year sentence

A Kalispell man is in prison after being convicted of four felonies and two misdemeanors.

Sean Smith, 25, was sentenced May 13 in Flathead District Court to a total of five years in the Montana State Prison followed by five years of probation.

He had pleaded guilty to felony counts of theft and criminal distribution of dangerous drugs as well as two felony counts of forgery.

That sentence was set to run concurrently with a sentence of 30 days in the Flathead County Detention Center and 120 days of probation handed down in Kalispell Municipal Court after he pleaded guilty to two counts of misdemeanor theft.

Most notable among Smith’s crimes was stealing the uniform of deceased Vietnam veteran James Smith (no relation) from James’ brother, Greg, who had it displayed in a shadow box on the wall of his Kalispell framing business.

He pleaded guilty to misdemeanor theft for stealing the uniform.

Medals from the uniform were recovered and refurbished before being returned to Greg Smith along with a replacement chest plate and replacement dog tags, but the uniform itself and the shadow box never were recovered.

The felony cases were the result of Smith forging checks, selling heroin and stealing tools, tires and unspecified equipment.

In addition to his jail time, Smith was ordered to pay $4,600 in fines as well as some restitution.

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