Two men plead guilty to burglaries

Two men have admitted being a part of a burglary and theft ring that stole goods worth more than $25,000 from a Kalispell store and homes in the Beaver Lakes area in late September 2015.

On Friday after pleading guilty to felony theft, Anthony Frederick Miller, 26, of Columbia Falls told Flathead District Judge Robert Allison that he and three others stole items from multiple residences and squirreled the loot away in the woods for future access.  

Prosecutor John Donovan said a canoe was one of the items stowed away.

Also stolen were a Polaris four-wheeler, change, bottles of alcohol and a pellet gun.

“You don’t know exactly what you took,” defense attorney Greg Rapkoch said of the thefts.

The group was busted after Two Bear Air launched a helicopter to catch Richard Flint III, 32, of Kalispell.

Flint allegedly walked into a woman’s house on Sept. 22 near Beaver Lakes and told her that he didn’t know anyone was home. Flint left and the woman called law officers, who advised her to stay inside. A deputy tried to stop Flint, but he fled into the woods until he was apprehended.

When Flint was booked into jail, he had a Chevy truck key in his pocket. The key fit a truck found in the Beaver Lakes area two days later — a truck that had been stolen from an excavating business in Lincoln County.

The truck was found with $20,000 worth of clothing stolen from Cabela’s Outpost in Kalispell earlier Sept. 22.

On Monday, Flint pleaded guilty to felony theft and a felony deceptive practices charge for breaking into a business in early September and stealing fuel cards. Another charge for allegedly stealing a car in July has been dismissed.

Flint’s co-defendant in the car theft was Shaunn Katlynn Rowe.

On Friday, Miller said he, Flint, Rowe and Chance Matthew Palmer were involved in several burglaries in the area. Miller said he showed deputies where everything was stowed. All of the stolen items except a pellet gun were returned to their owners, Miller said.

Miller said he took part in the crimes because he was having problems with drug use.

“I have had drug problems in the past,” Miller said.

He said he understands that he and his three co-conspirators will be on the hook for more than $25,000 in restitution for damage to the burglarized homes.

“I will be willing to pay it until it’s paid off,” Miller said.

Rowe is set to be sentenced in February after she pleaded guilty to criminal endangerment for beating a woman with a baseball bat on July 10, 2015. A theft charge was dropped as part of a plea agreement, but she will still have to pay restitution for any thefts she allegedly committed while working with Flint.

Palmer has three felony cases pending in Flathead District Court, none of which directly involve the Beaver Lake burglaries. He is accused of stealing more than $12,000 in firearms, ammunition and leather goods from a storage unit off U.S. 93 in early December. He was out of jail at the time of the most recent alleged crime, pending sentencing for a felony deceptive practices conviction that was handed down on Nov. 12.

Palmer’s next court appearance is Thursday.

Miller was released until sentencing so he can possibly get a job and start paying back his victims.

Judge Allison warned Miller against getting into more trouble while he is out of jail awaiting sentencing. Allison took issue with the fact that Miller said he “had” a drug problem.

“My view is once you have a problem, you always have a problem,” Allison said. “It’s just activated when you start using again.”

Reporter Megan Strickland can be reached at 758-4459 or mstrickland@dailyinterlake.com.