Victim of allegedly drunken hit-and-run calls for tougher sentence

The local woman grievously injured after an allegedly drunk driver struck her and left her in a ditch in April fears the sentence prosecutors are recommending will end in another tragedy.

“These are behavioral patterns; this isn’t just a one time stop,” said Madelyn Mishleau. “When you drive away from someone screaming in a ditch after you hit them — that’s attempted murder.”

Mishleau is on the mend after 22-year-old Gunnar Thomas Sweem allegedly struck her while she was walking near the intersection of North Somers Road and Montana 82 on April 25, though a full recovery remains a ways off. The collision left her with broken bones, including her neck, lacerated organs and internal bleeding, among other injuries.

“A lot of work has gone into rehabilitation,” Mishleau said. “It’s been quite a journey.”

That journey also has come with a mountain of medical bills and put Mishleau temporarily out of work, though she has returned to her job in the intervening months. She estimates her recovery has cost between $150,000 and $200,000.

Given all of that, learning that prosecutors were moving forward with a partially suspended sentence with the state Department of Corrections for Sweem has left her incensed.

“It’s not an excusable behavior, but it’s been presented to me as excusable behavior,” Mishleau said.

WHILE MISHLEAU deals with pain, knitting bones and mounting bills, Sweem pleaded guilty to felony negligent vehicular assault and misdemeanor obstructing a peace officer charges in Flathead County District Court.

In exchange, prosecutors will make a joint recommendation with Sweem’s defense attorney, Sean Hinchey, that he receive 10 years in the Department of Corrections with five suspended, credit for time served and enter the state’s addiction program, known as WATCh.

On the witness stand Oct. 19, Sweem acknowledged drinking before getting behind the wheel in April, striking Mishleau and then fleeing — he testified that he took his dog home — before returning to the scene, but refusing to give investigating officers his name.

Judge Amy Eddy, who is presiding over the case, accepted the plea and set sentencing for Dec. 1.

But Kat Kingery, Mishleau’s mother, believes the sentence fails both her daughter and Sweem.

“He is going to go to WATCh and six months later he is going to get out,” Kingery said. “He is not going to learn a lesson. He will dibble-dabble with treatment … and get lost between the cracks. He is going to get another charge. At the same time, Madelyn is not going to get justice — and neither is he.”

Kingery and her husband, Chad Kingery, operate Alpenglow Clinic, an addiction treatment center with locations across western Montana. Earlier this year, they met with Gov. Greg Gianforte alongside other local officials and experts, using part of their time to advocate for tougher driving under the influence laws.

Ten years with five suspended may seem tough, Kat Kingery said, but in her experience working with the courts from an addiction treatment standpoint, it’s typically not.

“The public thinks he is going to serve time for this crime, that is truly punishable,” she said. “He is going to be back out on the street and he is going to be a detriment to the community 100%.”

They have also asked about seeing Mishleau’s medical debt transferred, but that seems unlikely, though Sweem may end up paying an amount of restitution.

“There are a lot of complications and Mr. Sweem is … still doing his thing, still free,” Kat Kingery said. “He doesn’t have to deal with any of this.”

CHAD KINGERY was constantly in and out of jail while in active addiction before finally ending up in prison. It was an experience he saw no reason to repeat.

“It’s what woke me up,” he said. “I got a 10 year [sentence] with four suspended for having the precursors to meth.”

He spent several years behind bars, ended up in the state’s methamphetamine addiction program, went into pre-release and then headed to college and earned two degrees, “but I’d been in and out of jail hundred times before that.”

“For me, that’s what it took,” he said.

Like his wife, Chad Kingery wants to see justice for Mishleau. He also wants to see Sweem live a good life. In his experience, both as a recovering addict and treatment providor, sending him to the WATCh program isn’t enough.

“We deal with hundreds of people in our clinics that come out of the WATCh program,” he said. “For a … kid to go through WATCh, he’s going to skip through. There needs to be a little bit more of a punitive aspect of it, a way to tell him this is serious.”

Both Chad and Kat Kingery called for a sentence that includes some amount of time in Montana State Prison. Anything less, they fear, will embolden Sweem.

Mishleau also works at Alpenglow Clinic and like Chad and Kat has regular contact with addicts. She pointed to Sweem’s previous history of drunk driving — a 2021 conviction on a per se charge appears under his name in Flathead County Justice Court — as an ill omen for his future.

“I have seen so many cases like this. The first DUI will come in and that, often times, turns into a second and into a third,” she said. “It’s not strict enough. It’s not life compromising enough.”

All three were absent from last week’s change of plea hearing. Chad Kingery said the family plans to make an appearance at Sweem’s Dec. 1 sentencing. At that point, they will be allowed to address the court and lobby for a tougher penalty.

Sweem, Mishleau said, needs to spend time behind bars.

“It’s important to understand the life altering nature of nearly taking someone’s life,” she said. “That’s a huge deal and it should be treated with a very serious attitude.”

News Editor Derrick Perkins can be reached at 758-4430 or dperkins@dailyinterlake.com.