Amos sentenced to five years for theft

Legal troubles are mounting for a Libby man involved in a pair of vehicle thefts last fall.

Kevin James Amos, 34, who had previously pleaded guilty to one count of felony theft by accountability and one count of felony criminal mischief by accountability, was sentenced Monday to a five-year commitment to the Montana Department of Corrections by District Judge James Wheelis, who rejected a recommendation from the Lincoln County Attorney’s Office for a deferred sentence.

Amos is also facing new charges filed late last week alleging he sold methamphetamine to a confidential informant on three occasions earlier this year.

Amos and a co-defendant, Ryan Carpenter, were charged in the thefts of a 1997 Dodge truck belonging to Cabinet Peaks Medical Center and a 1999 Chevrolet truck belonging to North Fork Forestry last September. Both vehicles were recovered a few days after the thefts. The truck belonging to the hospital was found wrecked along Cherry Creek Road, and the North Fork Forestry truck, which was loaded with firewood, was located in the yard of a Libby man who reported that Carpenter had offered to sell him a load of firewood, then abandoned the truck at his residence without unloading it.

According to an investigating officer’s report, registration and insurance papers from the North Fork Forestry truck were found inside the wrecked truck belonging to the hospital, linking the two thefts.

Carpenter pleaded guilty in March to two counts of felony theft by accountability and is scheduled to be sentenced on June 15.

Wheelis told Amos on Monday that he was unwilling to go along with the recommendation for a deferred sentence contained in the plea agreement, but that he would follow a pre-sentence investigation’s recommendation for a five-year commitment to the Montana Department of Corrections along with conditions for chemical dependency treatment and restitution. He advised Amos that he had the option to withdraw his guilty plea and proceed with trial on the original charges, and that if convicted he could be sentenced up to the maximum of 10 years on each count. After a brief discussion with his attorney, Charles Sprinkle, Amos agreed to accept the five-year sentence.

Amos has yet to enter a plea on the drug charges filed last week. He is facing three counts of distribution of dangerous drugs, each punishable by a sentence of one year to life in prison. According to the charges, Amos sold methamphetamine to an informant working for the Lincoln County Sheriff’s Office on three occasions in January and February of this year.