Libby man free after pleading no contest to assaulting cop

A 20-year-old Libby man could avoid prison after entering a no contest plea Monday to a charge of assaulting a police officer in Libby last year.

Thomas Joe “TJ” Ellsworth appeared in Montana’s 19th Judicial District Court March 7 and pleaded no contest to the charge. As part of his agreement with the Lincoln County Attorney’s Office prosecutors recommended Ellsworth be given a five-year deferred imposition of sentence, with unspecified fines and surcharges to be determined by the court at sentencing.

The no contest, or “Alford” plea, while technically not an admission of guilt, carries the same legal effect as a guilty plea. The plea acknowledges the state has sufficient evidence to prove the charges beyond a reasonable doubt. By entering the plea, the defendant also surrenders the right to challenge the evidence, as well as the means by which it was gathered.

The deferred imposition of sentence places the defendant on probation for the specified term, subject to conditions imposed by the Department of Corrections - Adult Probation and Parole. Should the defendant successfully complete the deferral term, the charges are dismissed. Should the defendant violate the term, he can be sentenced to the maximum penalty without a trial, handled essentially in the same manner as a parole violation petition.

Ellsworth was arrested Dec. 8, 2015, and charged with felony assault on a peace officer after deputies of the Lincoln County Sheriff’s Office and officers of both the Libby Police Department and the Montana Highway Patrol responded to an address on Fifth Street on a domestic disturbance call.

During the police response, an altercation took place between Ellsworth and Lincoln County Sheriff’s Deputy Steve Short. 

According to Short’s report, when he and Officer Scott Kessler of the Libby Police Department attempted to speak to Ellsworth about the domestic disturbance, Ellsworth became aggressive.

“At this time TJ Ellsworth began yelling at Officer Kessler and I and telling us ‘this is private property, you need to get the [expletive deleted] off my land.,’” Short wrote in his report. “I asked TJ to calm down so I could get a statement from him and he said, ‘[expletive deleted] you, you have no business being here you need to leave,’ and took an aggressive posture toward me. I then told TJ that he was being detained and I attempted to grab his left hand to place him in handcuffs. At this point TJ attempted to jerk his left arm away from my left hand and pulled me towards him. I then grabbed TJ’s left arm with both hands and he began to struggle to get away from me and began swinging his right arm to attempt to strike me. I decided to take TJ to the ground to keep from being hit, at this point he stepped on my left foot causing me to injure my ankle as we went to the floor.

“Once on the floor, TJ continued to try and strike me but Officer Kessler and I were able to keep him from making contact. At this point Tom, Sr., came into the residence and caused Kessler to have to let go of TJ and keep Tom away from the situation. At this point TJ was able to punch me in the right eye with his right hand as I attempted to get him restrained.”

Following the incident, Short was examined at Cabinet Peaks Medical Center. He suffered a sprained ankle and a small broken bone on the right side of his nose, according to the report.

Judge James Wheelis accepted Ellsworth’s plea and found him guilty of the charges. Sentencing has been set for Monday, May 9. Prior to sentencing, Ellsworth will be evaluated by officers with Probation and Parole as part of a pre-sentence investigation. Judge Wheelis has the discretion to either accept or reject the recommended sentence. Should he reject the recommended sentence, Ellsworth will be given the opportunity to withdraw his guilty plea and go to trial on the charge.

The charge has a statutory penalty of two to 10 years in prison and a fine of up to $50,000.