Libby man receives an 8-year sentence

Daily Inter Lake

A pair of Northwest Montana men convicted of robbery for a July 2011 armed home invasion were sentenced last Thursday during U.S. District Court proceedings in Helena.

Steven Acton, 27, of Libby entered a Hare Trail home in Whitefish, where he and an accomplice held a 16-year-old girl at gunpoint while they stole a gun safe with the intention of selling the guns in Oregon to buy drugs.

The girl was not harmed in the altercation.

Acton and his accomplice were accompanied by Kevin Gaethle, 30, Kalispell, who served as the trio’s driver during the crime.

Both Acton and Gaethle eventually pleaded guilty to their charges.

Acton was convicted of robbery affecting commerce and use of a firearm during the commission of a crime of violence. 

He was sentenced to 8- 1/2 years in prison and five years of supervised release and was also ordered to pay a special assessment of $200.

Gaethle was sentenced to four years and three months in prison and three years of supervised release and also was ordered to pay a special assessment of $100.

Acton and Gaethle were ordered to work together to pay $4,401 in restitution.