Last of bungling burglars sentenced
Joseph Craig Neva appears in Flathead County District Court on Jan. 25 for his sentencing on criminal endangerment and partner or family member assault charges. (Derrick Perkins/Daily Inter Lake)
The last of four burglars arrested after breaking into a home on Kalispell’s east side last year received a suspended sentence for felony criminal endangerment Jan. 25.
Joseph Craig Neva, 20, apologized in Flathead County District Court for his role in the March 26 break-in prior to receiving his punishment.
“It’s not the person who I am,” he told Judge Robert Allison. “It’s just a dumb thing that happened and I have a lot of regret.”
Deputy County Attorney Ashley Frechette, who prosecuted the case, said Neva acted as the driver in the failed burglary.
According to court documents, Neva and three others conspired to break into an acquaintance’s home and rob him of drugs and money. They realized they had the wrong address after kicking in the door of a Fourth Avenue East apartment and coming face-to-face with a terrified resident, court documents said.
The group then retreated to an idling pickup truck and fled the area, court documents said.
Prosecutors initially brought all four up on conspiracy to commit burglary charges and tacked on an additional tampering charge to one of the men for allegedly threatening his colleagues if they cooperated with investigators.
Like his fellow would-be burglars, Neva initially pleaded not guilty but eventually struck a deal with prosecutors. In return for pleading guilty to felony criminal endangerment, prosecutors agreed to recommend he serve a suspended five-year sentence.
The deal wrapped in a separate strangulation case stemming from an August incident. Prosecutors planned to recommend Neva receive a deferred two-year sentence in exchange for a guilty plea to misdemeanor partner or family member assault.
Allison stuck to the terms of the deal during the Jan. 25 sentencing, also giving Neva credit for a combined 35 days of time served and ordering him to pay restitution to the victim in the burglary case. The two sentences will run concurrently.
“You hopefully learned you don’t do dumb stuff,” Allison told Neva. “I suppose dumb is a pretty mild term. It’s criminal.”
News Editor Derrick Perkins can be reached at 758-4430 or dperkins@dailyinterlake.com.