Parent who allegedly threatened school employees given deferred sentence

A Flathead County District Court judge gave a parent accused of threatening a school official last year a deferred two-year sentence on July 27.

Tifani Marie Curtin, 42, pleaded guilty by way of an Alford plea to felony criminal endangerment in June. She initially faced a felony intimidation charge, but struck a deal with prosecutors earlier this year.

In an Alford plea, a defendant maintains their innocence, but acknowledges a jury likely would find them guilty based on the evidence.

Curtin’s arrest came after she phoned the Evergreen Junior High School on April 28, 2022 and told school workers she planned on bringing her child $5, according to court documents. An administrator there told Curtin, who was described as a non-custodial parent in court documents, that she was banned from the property and barred from seeing the child.

Curtin allegedly was undeterred.

“I’m on my way to the school and I’m going to [expletive] kill you,” she replied, according to court documents.

School officials alerted the Flathead County Sheriff’s Office. Deputies tracked her down to a local hospital and she was arrested upon being discharged from the medical facility, court documents said.

In addition to the deferred two-year sentence, Judge Heidi Ulbricht gave Curtin credit for 61 days of time served.

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