Judge sentences Waldron

A wanted Libby man who was apprehended outside Missoula two weeks after leading local law enforcement on a chase was sentenced last Thursday in federal court.

Guy Waldron, 32, was given 18 months in prison followed by 18 months of supervised release – in addition to serving out his previous sentence – after U.S. District Judge Donald Molloy found him guilty of violating three terms of his release.

Molloy signed a warrant for Waldron’s arrest June 21 after he tested positive for using methamphetamine while on supervised release. He had been warned about traveling without permission, failing to secure employment and failing to show up to his scheduled drug tests in the months after his December 2009 release, according to federal court documents.

Waldron was sentenced in November 2008 to two years in prison and three years probation to the offense of “unlawful user of a controlled substance in possession of a firearm,” after admitting to authorities in 2007 to selling stolen firearms and using methamphetamine.

When detectives spotted Waldron on June 24, he led officers on a chase through Libby and on the back roads of town with his girlfriend in the passenger seat. Officers believe he escaped by foot on a dusty road on Swede Mountain by turning the wheel over to her and bailing out of the vehicle. Law-enforcement agencies scoured the woods but failed to find him, believing he caught a ride when he reached the base of the mountain.

Waldron was caught after the U.S. Marshals Service received a tip from someone who recognized him from a photo that appeared on a local news station.