Northwest Montana man pleads guilty to burglary, bail-jumping

A Northwest Montana man facing charges in four counties is headed to prison after admitting to two crimes Thursday in Flathead County District Court.

Mitchell Bear Raymond, 25, of Plains, pleaded guilty to burglary and bail-jumping. He will be sentenced Sept. 2.

A plea deal calls for Raymond to receive a five-year prison sentence on the burglary charge and a six-month suspended sentence in the county jail for bail-jumping.

District Judge Heidi Ulbricht said Raymond also will have to pay restitution.

Raymond's public defender, Liam Gallagher, said the agreement calls for Raymond's five-year sentence in Flathead County to be served concurrently with three cases in Lake County and one each in Sanders and Lincoln counties.

In Lake County, Raymond, according to a story in the Valley Journal, was sentenced in May to six years deferred on felony burglary and theft charges and two years deferred for possessing methamphetamine.

In Sanders County, where Raymond has been in jail, he pleaded guilty to drug possession. He is scheduled to be sentenced Aug. 10.

Raymond is facing a criminal endangerment charge in Lincoln County after a high-speed chase in November 2020.

Raymond was arrested by agents with the Northwest Montana Drug Task Force and booked into the Flathead County Detention Center on Feb. 3. His bail is set at $310,520. The dollar figure is a total for the various warrants.

Raymond has been on law enforcement's radar particularly since he led Sanders County officers on a high speed chase in November 2020.

According to information from the Plains Police Department, an officer tried to stop a vehicle driven by Raymond. He allegedly fled and the chase reached speeds of 90 miles per hour on Upper Lynch Creek Road before ending on Little Thompson River Road.

A passenger in the vehicle was captured, but Raymond escaped.

In Flathead County, Raymond was charged with felony burglary after he wrote in a letter to a friend saying he had items from a residential burglary in Bigfork.

Raymond was scheduled to stand trial Jan. 13, but he didn't appear and a warrant was issued for his arrest. He was then charged with bail-jumping.

In Lake County, Raymond was reported to be one of five co-defendants involved in a series of home burglaries and storage units in 2018. Two of his co-defendants, Eugene Thomas Germain and Brandon Tollie, were sentenced to lengthy state prison terms.

A July 2020 story in the Valley Journal reported a search warrant was served at Raymond's home in 2019 that revealed several stolen items, which were being investigated by the Lake County Sheriff's Office.

In Missoula County, court officials said Raymond was charged with felony theft of items valued at more than $5,000.

Reporter Scott Shindledecker may be reached at 406-758-4441 or sshindledecker@dailyinterlake.com.