Drunk driver gets suspended sentence, ordered to drug court

A Heron man earned a suspended five-year sentence for driving under the influence, fifth or subsequent offense, in Lincoln County District Court last month.

Michael Lee Ueland, 59, pleaded guilty to the single felony count after striking a deal in October. In exchange, prosecutors agreed to drop an alternative charge of operation of a noncommercial vehicle with an alcohol concentration greater than .08 and misdemeanor open alcoholic beverage container in a motor vehicle charge.

As part of his sentence, Ueland must enter and complete the county’s drug court program. He also must pay $2,500 out of a $5,000 fine.

Deputies with the Lincoln County Sheriff’s Office arrested Ueland on May 2 after responding to an alleged disturbance on St. Regis Road. Writing in an affidavit, Deputy Steve Short recalled arriving on scene, where a man allegedly threatened his neighbor’s workers, about 6:18 p.m. He soon learned that the man had left in a Suzuki Sidekick.

Short wrote that he and Deputy Derek Breiland found the vehicle traveling Iron Creek Road and stopped it. Approaching the driver’s side door, Short recounted confronting the odor of an alcoholic beverage on Ueland’s breath. He also spotted two beer cans in the center console, court documents said.

Ueland admitted to drinking two beers, but he gave off other signs of intoxication, according to Short, who had him undergo a horizontal gaze nystagmus test. Afterward, Ueland underwent a breath test, which found his blood alcohol content was .211, court documents said.

Short arrested Ueland and brought him to the Lincoln County Detention Center before giving him another breath test. That one registered in at .191, Short recalled.

A review of Ueland’s record turned up four previous driving under the influence convictions dating back to 1992.

Handing down the sentence, District Judge Matthew Cuffe described it as consistent with Montana law and referred to the case as an appropriate one for treatment.