Failure to register gets 5 years suspended for Libby man

By BENJAMIN KIBBEY

The Western News

A Libby man with a history of missing court dates was sentenced to a suspended five year prison term in Montana 19th Judicial District Court in Libby on March 5.

Fifty-year-old Willie Frye was originally charged nearly a year ago for failure to register as a sexual offender.

On March 2, 2017, Lincoln County Sheriff’s Detective Dave Hall and Division of Criminal Investigation Agent Roger Johnson were performing compliance checks, according to an affidavit from Hall.

Though Frye had originally registered with Lincoln County in 2015 for a South Carolina conviction for criminal sexual conduct with a 17-year-old female, he had failed to return an address verification letter to the state.

The detective and agent were unable to find Frye at his registered address, and later attempted an address where another subject claimed to have dropped him off.

Hall left a card at the address and voicemails for another subject, but calls were not returned and subjects at the residence did not advise of direct contact with Frye.

Frye was charged March 21, 2017.

At Frye’s sentencing, Lincoln County Attorney Marcia Boris requested the five year suspended sentence in accordance with a plea agreement.

Citing Frye’s 10th grade education and low-wage employment history, Frye’s attorney Ryan Peabody requested that the public defender fee be waved.

Judge Matt Cuffe decided to allow Frye to work off his public defender fee through community service.

Cuffe referenced Frye’s past issues with meeting obligations to report, and reminded him that he will need to stay in contact with adult probation for the next five years in accordance with his suspended sentence.

However, Cuffe said that he believed the “snags” had been worked out, and Frye would be committed to meeting his supervisory obligations in the future.