Kendall earns 10 years without parole for escape

Jeremiah Kendall’s brief time on the lam earned him an extra 10 years with the Montana State Prison with no chance of parole.

Kendall pleaded guilty to a single count of felony escape during his May 3 arraignment, citing a decision to turn over a new leaf. During his May 24 sentencing, Kendall again claimed he wanted to change, acknowledging his substance abuse problem and asking for the chance at treatment.

“I make horrible decisions. I have a problem [where] when I get stressed out, I turn to drugs,” he said from the Lincoln County Detention Center via videoconferencing software. “I’m sorry for this and everything else. That’s all I’ve got.”

Scott B. Johnson, Kendall’s attorney, argued for leniency. He asked that the sentence run concurrent to the two decades in state prison Kendall received earlier this year for brutally attacking his then-girlfriend in 2014.

“This is a case where my client took responsibility very quickly,” Johnson said.

But District Judge Matthew Cuffe stuck to the prosecution’s recommendation, calling Kendall’s break from house arrest just the latest in a string of incidents.

“It wasn’t just that you missed an appointment,” Cuffe told Kendall. “You were gone. In the wind. Causing a manhunt.”

Cuffe placed Kendall on house arrest following his May 24 sentencing on charges of felony aggravated assault and tampering with physical evidence. At the time, Kendall appeared in the courtroom via videoconferencing technology. Health officials had placed him in quarantine after he came into contact with in an individual infected with the coronavirus.

Opting to move forward with the sentencing, which had been delayed several times already by then, Cuffe ordered Kendall to wait out his quarantine on house arrest. He was to turn himself in on April 9.

On April 7, Lincoln County Sheriff’s Office deputies spotted Kendall fleeing into the woods near his home on a four-wheeler. While law enforcement officials have not spoken in any detail about the search for Kendall, court documents show that investigators began tracking his wife. They suspected she was in contact with him, despite her denials, according to court documents.

About a week after Kendall was to turn himself in, sheriff’s deputies met up with his wife and another man, Fredrick Hersel, on Forest Service Road 6209. They spotted Kendall soon after, who took off on foot, according to court documents. Undersheriff Brad Dodson eventually ran Kendall down.

Cuffe described Kendall’s behavior and the ensuing search as putting area residents and law enforcement officers in harm’s way.

“This is not an isolated event,” Cuffe said. “You need a treatment program … but our community needs to be safe.”

During his stint on the lam, Kendall racked up additional charges. Authorities allege he stole a side-by-side as well as blankets and damaged a surveillance camera while on the run.

“We do not believe that Mr. Kendall is going to be someone who is going to be easily supervised in the community,” said County Attorney Marcia Boris during the sentencing. “That is why we are asking for the maximum.”

Kendall’s alleged accomplices also face legal trouble as a result of the breakout. Prosecutors have charged Jennifer Kendall and Hersel with obstruction of justice for their roles in the escape. According to court documents, Hersel gave Jeremiah Kendall rides and a place to stay.

Cuffe laid the blame, though, at Jeremiah Kendall’s feet.

“You drug a bunch of people into your mess … because of your conduct in this escape,” he said.

While Kendall offered only a few words at his sentencing, he submitted a handwritten letter to Cuffe beforehand. In it, Kendall attributed his behavior to substance abuse. Citing trouble with methamphetamine in particular, he wrote that he had never had the chance at treatment.

“I have seen people come out and never [go] back. I believe if I was given the chance at a good treatment, I, too, could come out a better person,” Kendall wrote. “I believe a pre-release and [a] halfway house could really help me get some structure back [into] my life.”

Cuffe indicated that he was unwilling to risk community safety on Kendall’s optimism about treatment during the hearing.

“This is the only way I can ensure our community is safe from your poor choices,” he said, shortly before handing down the 10-year sentence.

“You just say 10 years no parole?” Kendall yelped from the monitor as the sentence was read aloud.

Cuffe checked in with both the county attorney and the public defender. Then he confirmed for Kendall that he had heard correctly.