Man earns suspended sentence for driving drunk with children

A Kalispell man accused of drunkenly driving himself and his two children to check in with his probation officer in March received a suspended five-year sentence earlier this year.  

Flathead County District Court Judge Amy Eddy handed down the sentence to Jacob Austin King, 32, on April 18. King had earlier pleaded guilty to a single felony count of criminal child endangerment after striking a deal with prosecutors.  

Authorities reported that King smelled of alcohol when he arrived at the Adult Probation Office on March 11, according to court documents. Though he initially claimed he had walked to the building, he later recanted and admitted he drove to the office with his two children in his vehicle, court documents alleged.  

Officers found the children alone in a parked and idling pickup truck. King allegedly said he planned on dropping his kids off at school before job hunting.  

King admitted to drinking upwards of 15 spiked teas in the lead up to his visit with probation, stopping at about 4:30 a.m., according to court documents. He gave a breath sample, which returned with a breath alcohol content of .238, court documents said.  

King reached a plea deal with prosecutors on April 11. In exchange for the guilty plea in the criminal child endangerment case and admitting to probation violations in two other cases, they agreed to drop a felony drug possession case.  

Eddy ordered King's suspended sentence to run consecutive to the twin five-year sentences with the Department of Corrections he received for his probation violations. The latter two sentences were to run concurrently to one another.  

She also gave him credit for 42 days of time served. 

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