Second auto thief sentenced

The second of two Libby men charged in connection with a pair of vehicle thefts last fall was sentenced Monday to a five-year commitment to the Montana Department of Corrections.

Ryan James Carpenter had pleaded guilty in March to two counts of felony theft by accountability. He and co-defendant, Kevin James Amos, Jr., 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’s sentence was in accordance with a plea agreement reached with the Lincoln County Attorney’s Office. 

Amos, who had pleaded guilty to one count of felony theft by accountability and one count of felony criminal mischief by accountability, also received a five-year sentence last week after District Judge James Wheelis said he was unwilling to go along with the recommendation for a deferred sentence contained in his plea agreement. Wheelis said he would follow a pre-sentence investigation’s recommendation for a five-year commitment to the Department of Corrections, and Amos agreed to accept the sentence rather than withdraw his plea.

Amos is also facing new charges alleging he sold methamphetamine to a confidential informant on three occasions earlier this year. He pleaded not guilty on Monday to three counts of distribution of dangerous drugs.