Libby man sentenced to 30 years for assault, drug charges

(Editor’s note: an incorrect version of this story ran on Dec. 6. That story has been retracted and replaced with this story, which is correct.)

A Libby man on Monday was sentenced to 30 years in Montana State Prison after wielding a BB gun during a road rage incident where police also found drugs in his vehicle.

District Judge James Wheelis sentenced Craig Alan Barrows to 30 years for assault with a weapon and drug charges, both stemming from earlier this year. Wheelis also sentenced Barrows to six months for each count of criminal possession of dangerous drugs, which will run concurrent with the 30-year sentence.

A jury found Barrows guilty in September on five charges: three counts of assault with a weapon and two counts of criminal possession of dangerous drugs. Barrows was charged with assault for each of the high school-aged teenagers he pointed a BB gun at during a road rage incident in March. The arresting officer, Ron Buckner, reported having known others to file complaints about Barrows pointing guns at them in the past.

Three days after the road rage incident in March, Buckner searched Barrows’ car after receiving a warrant and found 8 grams of methamphetamine divided between seven baggies inside a pill bottle, along with five Lorazepam pills.

A few weeks after his September sentencing, on Nov. 3, another jury found Barrows guilty in a separate trial regarding separate drug charges. Barrows in April was charged with two counts of criminal possession of dangerous drugs and three counts of drug paraphernalia after detectives with the Lincoln County Sheriff’s Office found meth, heroine, syringes, spoons, baggies and a scale in his home during a raid. Detectives also found a 9-milimeter pistol at his home, which violated his conditional release after he was convicted of three felony counts of assault with a weapon.

Barrows’ sentencing for the April drug charges was added to his sentencing for the earlier charges. Wheelis sentenced him to 30 years total in Montana State Prison for all eight felonies, along with six months for each of the three misdemeanor paraphernalia charges, which will run concurrently.