Savage receives probation
Daniel James (D.J.) Savage, Jr., is a free man and soon to be betrothed to the woman he was convicted Monday of assaulting.
Savage, 37, unwillingly accepted a plea agreement he previously negotiated with Lincoln County Attorney Bernard Cassidy. Savage accepted the agreement after Judge James B. Wheelis refused to allow Savage, who was representing himself, to withdraw his guilty plea to the charge of partner or family assault.
For the conviction, Savage was given a three-year probation with clear stipulations that he avoid personal conflicts and obey all state and federal laws.
Savage is guilty of assaulting Sandra Laffoon, the woman with whom he was living in Troy at the time of the September assault.
Laffoon, also 37, was in the courtroom Monday and petitioned Wheelis to remove the stipulation they not have contact. After sentencing, Savage and Laffoon hugged in the courtroom.
“We’ll be married before the end of the month,” Savage boldly predicted with Laffoon at his side outside Wheelis’ courtroom.
Laffoon eagerly agreed. “Yes,” she said.
Savage said he sought to withdraw the plea because he feels he may have agreed prematurely.
“There really is no law library in the detention center and that’s why they can’t call it a jail,” Savage said. “I wish I could have researched my case more, something I have done since my release.”
Savage was convicted of partner assault; tampering with a communications device, a misdemeanor; and assault. The maximum penalty for the felony partner family assault could have been five years in prison and a fine of $50,000. The maximum penalty for tampering with a communications device could have been six months in prison and a $1,000 fine.
As it is, Savage must stay out of trouble for three years while on probation and pay an $85 fine.
Savage’s case history is one filled with bizarre twists.
After the Aug. 29 assault, Savage fled Troy. About three days later, Laffoon followed him to Spokane. Later the couple moved along to Portland where he was arrested by Portland police without incident at a laundromat. While in Portland police custody, Savage fought extradition to Montana, ultimately arriving back in Lincoln County on Nov. 1.
After Savage’s arrest, Laffoon alleged a bizarre story that she and Savage concocted a plot to ensnare local law enforcement in falsely arresting Savage. Weeks after Savage’s arrest, Laffoon then admitted to having different feelings about Savage and said she had not contacted him after about the time of his arraignment.
Savage’s late summer run-in with the law was not his first. On Jan. 10, 2013, he was acquitted in 19th Judicial District Court of three counts, the first being assault of a partner or family member; the second of tampering with a witness; and a third count of stalking.
About 25 months ago, Savage was beaten severely and left bleeding in the snow outside the Troy VFW. Savage’s brain swelled as a result of that beating, and he spent time recovering in a Kalispell hospital. Coincidentally, both he and Laffoon have worked at the VFW where Savage served as a deejay and provided karaoke.
Also, Savage was charged with felony partner family assault on July 11, 2010. The charge was dismissed without prejudice on Sept. 10, 2010, by the Justice Court of Lincoln County.
In December 2008, Savage pleaded no contest to partner or family-member assault.