Eureka man to avoid prison in shooting incident

A Eureka man was given a deferred sentence after pleading guilty to a charge of criminal endangerment in Montana’s 19th Judicial District Court.

Eric Ryan Ferguson, a 24-year-old Eureka man, was facing up to 21 years and six months in prison on two felony charges of criminal endangerment and one misdemeanor partner family member assault charge.

Ferguson was arrested in the early hours of Dec. 6, 2015, following a reported disturbance, by Deputy Daniel Holskey of the Lincoln County Sheriff’s Office. According to the affidavit of probable cause written by Holskey, a verbal altercation between Ferguson and his girlfriend escalated into violence, with Ferguson brandishing and discharging a firearm as well as threatening to kill the woman and his brother, who was also present.

“On the morning of Dec. 6, 2015, at approximately 2:49 a.m., Ferguson was having a verbal altercation with his girlfriend [female victim] and his brother [male victim],” Holskey wrote. “[Victims] attempted to leave the residence along with [witness]. Eric grabbed [female victim] by the arm, twisting it and throwing her to the ground. [Female victim] got up and walked away with [male victim] and [witness] while Eric went into the house. Eric returned outside holding a bolt action rifle. [Witness] returned to the house to attempt to calm Eric down. At that time Eric fired the rifle into the ground.”

The victims reported Ferguson then pointed the weapon at each of them and threatened to kill them, according to Holskey’s narrative. The witnesses also reportedly said Ferguson had been drinking heavily at the time.

If convicted, Ferguson could be sentenced to up to 20 years in the Montana State Prison on the assault with a weapon charge and up to six months for the partner family member assault. He pleaded not guilty Jan. 11 in Montana’s 19th Judicial District Court and was released on his own recognizance after agreeing to release conditions which included no possession of weapons and participation in the 24/7 sobriety program.

He was initially charged with one misdemeanor partner family member assault charge and one felony count of assault with a weapon, but the charges were later modified to drop the assault with a weapon charge and replace it with two criminal endangerment charges. 

Under the terms of a plea agreement between Ferguson and the Lincoln County Sheriff’s Office, one of the felony counts and the misdemeanor were dropped in exchange for the guilty plea to the second endangerment charge. The deal included a recommendation to the judge that Ferguson receive a deferred imposition of sentence for a period of two years. Under the deferred sentence, Ferguson will be under the supervision of Adult Probation and Parole, and any violation of his probation conditions could result in him being sent to prison for the maximum sentence allowed for his crime, which is 10 years.