Two people sentenced in Whitefish burglary case

Two of three people charged with the burglary of a home in Whitefish in April 2016 were sentenced on May 9 to prison time and to pay more than $90,000 in restitution each.

Marjorie Marie James, 40, and Jeremy Dennis Marr, 42, were convicted of felony theft from an incident on April 12, 2016, with Marr facing numerous other charges connected with other burglaries, forgeries and thefts dating from February to August 2016.

James had allegedly been the housekeeper for a Whitefish couple for almost a year when the couple left for a three-week vacation, allowing James to continue working during their time away. James was told to document the hours she worked in the home while the owners were away in order to receive a paycheck. Instead, she invited Marr and their co-defendant, Andrew James Ford, 29, into the home where the three stayed for 11 days, drinking the couple’s liquor, bathing in the hot tub, ordering pornographic videos on the couple’s account and stealing hundreds of thousands of dollars worth of property.

James was sentenced by Flathead District Court Judge Heidi Ulbricht to 10 years with the Department of Corrections, with all 10 suspended due to the fact that this was her first felony conviction and to give her a chance to start making payments toward her restitution.

Marr was sentenced to 20 years in the Montana State Prison with 10 suspended.

James was ordered to pay $99,000, and Marr was ordered to pay $101,000 in restitution in addition to their sentences.

WHITEFISH POLICE discovered the burglary after stopping a vehicle driven by Ford for driving without headlights. After officers stopped the vehicle, Ford allegedly attempted to flee but was later apprehended after crashing through a fence. The vehicle he was driving was registered to the Whitefish couple and reportedly contained several thousand dollars worth of home theater equipment he had stolen from the home.

Officers went to the address listed for the vehicle owners and found the home had been ransacked. They found a Toyota FJ Cruiser, stereo and media equipment, a safe, jewelry and several other items had been taken.

Among those items was a coin collection dating back 50 years, when the victim and her father began collecting everything from buffalo nickels to Indian-head coins to 1800s silver dollars. The three burglars allegedly took three duffel bags full of coins, but only half of one duffel bag full was recovered.

The owners estimated that the three bags would have contained around $60,000 worth of coins, but they only asked for half that amount because they could not prove the actual worth without the coins.

The couple took the stand, testifying that it took more than five months to restore their home to its pre-burglary state.

Both husband and wife told the court that the burglary cost them more than money and property, stating they have also lost their sense of security in their home and their trust of people. The wife testified at the sentencing hearing that they had installed motion sensor lighting and security cameras around their home. Her voice broke as she explained that her husband now sleeps with a gun beside the bed and she struggles to trust her new housekeeper with a key or access to the house.

“I can’t open my front door without first knowing who’s on the other side,” she said.

The couple has attended all but one hearing on the matter over the last year.

In addition to the burglary, Marr also stole several checks belonging to the couple and attempted to cash them.

ONE OF the concerns James allegedly had regarding serving prison time was the effect it would have on her ability to regain custody of her daughter.

“Well, she should have thought of that before she did the deed,” one of the homeowners said.

Despite James’ concerns, prosecutors previously stated that prior to her arrest James had missed every custody hearing scheduled in regards to her daughter.

Both victims agreed that James should have seen prison time, considering she was the one who let the others into the home in the first place.

One of the homeowners said he felt she deserved prison time because he did not expect to ever see a dime of the money he lost, because none of the three perpetrators are currently employed.

Marr was remanded to the custody of the Sheriff’s Office while James was taken to await her release and the start of her parole sentence.

Reporter Mary Cloud Taylor can be reached at 758-4459 or mtaylor@dailyinterlake.com.