Man sent back to prison for violating parole in fatal DUI case
<p><strong>Jason Deshazer</strong> talks to students in 2013 at Bigfork High School. On Oct. 26, 2006, during Red Ribbon Week, Deshazer killed Somers teacher Dawn Bowker when he was driving drunk. On Thursday, Feb. 4, 2016, DeShazer was sentenced to 10 years in prison for violating his parole. (Daily Inter Lake file photo)</p>
A man who killed a Somers teacher in a 2006 vehicle crash has been sent back to prison for 10 years for violating his parole.
Flathead District Judge Heidi Ulbricht sentenced Jason DeShazer to Montana State Prison on Thursday after he admitted violating parole by driving drunk and being under the influence of drugs on more than one occasion.
“If taking somebody’s life wasn’t rock bottom, you definitely have some soul-searching to do,” Ulbricht told DeShazer.
DeShazer, 32, had been convicted of negligent homicide for the Oct. 26, 2006, death of Somers schoolteacher Dawn Bowker, 27.
DeShazer slammed into Bowker’s vehicle as she was driving to school. He blacked out after a night of drinking, smoking pot and using cocaine and crossed the center line on Montana 82.
He was paroled after 3 1/2 years, and on the witness stand Thursday he said that he had done OK until September 2015 when he relapsed and got a DUI in Missoula.
He was convicted of driving a motorcycle drunk in Missoula (with a passenger and without an appropriate license). His blood-alcohol level was .14.
“I really believe it started with that first relapse, with that DUI,” DeShazer said of his downward spiral. He would have discharged his sentence in April 2017 had he stayed law-abiding.
Flathead District Attorney Ed Corrigan and Ulbricht reminded DeShazer how serious that offense was, even if it was a misdemeanor, and that he again could have killed someone.
He also was stopped in Lake County on Sept. 13, 2015, when he pulled into a turnout on Montana 35 to help a parked patrol car that he thought might have been disabled by hitting a guardrail.
Law enforcement noticed that DeShazer appeared intoxicated and was driving with a suspended license. Methamphetamine and heroin were found in the vehicle, according to court documents. DeShazer pleaded guilty to one felony count of possession of dangerous drugs it is anticipated that he will receive a five-year suspended sentence in that case to run concurrent with the 10-year prison sentence. Sentencing is set for Feb. 24.
“It’s super embarrassing,” DeShazer said. “I’m really ashamed.”
DeShazer admitted using methamphetamine and heroin multiple times in the three months before he was arrested.
DeShazer did not oppose Corrigan’s recommendation for 10 years in prison.
“How can I contest that?” DeShazer said. “I’ve taken somebody’s life. Regardless of what happens, I’ll get another shot and she won’t.”
Corrigan noted that he had hoped that DeShazer would stay off drugs. DeShazer even went to area schools after his release to speak about the dangers of drunken driving, Corrigan said.
“It goes without saying that we are all very disappointed,” Corrigan said.
Ulbricht reminded DeShazer of the damage that had been done by reading a letter from Bowker’s best friend.
“We, her family and friends, were robbed of precious time with Dawn,” Ulbricht read.
DeShazer was granted a final request before he was sent back to detention. He was allowed to give his grandmother a hug. Defense attorney Jessica Polan said that it was unlikely the grandmother would get to visit her grandson in prison.
He gave a weak smile as he hugged the woman and was taken away after she told him that she loved him.
Reporter Megan Strickland can be reached at 758-4459 or mstrickland@dailyinterlake.com.