Man admits to stealing from Libby resident

A man accused of taking advantage of a Libby resident who gave him a helping hand pleaded no contest to a one felony count of theft recently in Lincoln County District Court.

Henry Mareman Yeadon, 47, entered his plea during a hearing on Nov. 6. The plea deal calls for a deferred sentence and District Judge Matt Cuffe set sentencing for Jan. 8.

According to a supplemental narrative by county Sheriff’s Office Deputy Derek Breiland, the case began in November 2022 when a Libby resident called and reported Yeadon had stolen some of his tools. The man said Yeadon was staying in his shop because he had nowhere to live and was working for him building furniture. The victim said he told Yeadon he needed to leave because he was breaking his stuff and stealing items from the shop.

The man told Deputy Breiland that the day after Yeadon left, he noticed tools and other items missing from his shop where Yeadon was living. The tools included several drills, a saw, two grinders and a wood chisel set with a value of about $2,075. The man said he, “was going to let this go if Yeadon returned his property, but Yeadon hadn’t or made contact.”

According to Breiland’s narrative, Yeadon and the victim spoke on the phone and allegedly admitted to taking the tools by mistake and said he would return them within a week. Two weeks had passed and nothing was returned. There had been a falling out between the two and the man thinks Yeadon stole his tools to sell them for money or payback for kicking him out of his shop.

Deputy Breiland reported he checked pawn shops and the tools hadn’t been pawned or sold on social media.

About three weeks later, Deputy Breiland spoke to the victim who reported more items stolen than he initially thought. They included two gold watches, multiple vials of gold, gold teeth and a router used for wood working. The estimated value was more than $15,000.

According to Breiland’s report, the items were kept in the same building Yeadon was staying in. The items were in the victim’s office, which Yeadon had a key for. The victim also said Yeadon was taking meat from him and going into his home when he wasn’t there. The victim said he had text messages from Yeadon admitting to taking the items by, “mistake,” along with pictures of the gold watches.

The victim said the watches were the most important to him because they were family heirlooms passed down for a few generations.