Northwest Montana man gets prison time for violating probation

A Northwest Montana man is headed to prison following sentencing last week in Lincoln County District Court.

Joseph Donald Heil, 40, received an eight-year sentence, with three suspended, Oct. 21, from Flathead County District Judge Dan Wilson. He will serve it in a state Department of Corrections facility.

Heil got credit for 448 days of time served and 96 days for street time. He is currently locked up in the county jail.

Wilson sentenced him to a six-year deferred term on May 15, 2024, but court documents indicate Heil continued to struggle with mental health issues and consuming alcohol.

Probation officer Steve Watson filed a petition to revoke Heil’s sentence Oct. 10. In it, he cited numerous instances of Heil’s violations.

Watson reported Heil began doing landscaping work May 28, 2024, with a local contractor in Libby. The employer called the county Oct. 3, said Heil was acting, “weird” and quit his job.

Watson ordered Heil to report on Oct. 4, but he never did. 

On Aug. 8, police in Kalispell were called to the Scoreboard Bar after employees there said he tried to drive after drinking heavily. They wouldn’t allow him to leave and his dad picked him up. He returned to the bar and screamed at people inside the bar, according to the court document.

On Oct. 6, Heil was arrested for assault at the Town Pump in Libby. Watson also alleged that Heil never began anger management class.

Heil was also referred to Northwest Community Health Center in Libby on May 28 for mental health services. He said he seeing a therapist, but he never signed a release form and authorities could not determine if he was seeing anyone.

Heil was initially charged more than two years ago after he terrorized his ex-wife with threatening text messages that he, “dreamed of murdering her.”

Heil first got a three-year deferred term, but it was revoked in 2023 when he violated some terms of his probation. 

Heil was first arrested on May 28, 2022, by Lincoln County Sheriff’s Office Deputy Bo Pittman. Pittman wrote in a probable cause statement that Heil moved from Kalispell to Eureka sometime in March 2022. From March 29 to May 26, law officers in Eureka responded to eight calls involving Heil, according to the charging document. The calls included four disturbances, a threat, two disorderly conducts and a public safety complaint.

Pittman reported that in the two-month time period, Heil was served with two restraining orders from people he allegedly threatened as well as his ex-wife and father, both of whom live in Kalispell. Heil’s father and ex-wife had obtained restraining orders against the defendant. Heil’s father said his son threatened him via phone and text and also allegedly posted a video on social media threatening to kill his ex-wife.

When Pittman spoke to the ex-wife, she said after watching the video, she applied for and received a protection order. She also told the officer that Heil’s behavior is the worst she’s ever seen, according to court documents. She also said he texted her threats that included “I dream of murdering you.”

She told Pittman that when Heil stopped taking his medication in September 2021, she stopped letting him see his 4-year-old son, according to the charging document. She said that’s when Heil became upset and allegedly began threatening her.

It wasn’t the first time Heil allegedly threatened his ex-wife. She received a temporary order of protection against him in August 2018. She was concerned for the welfare of her child, 10 months old at the time, her parents and others. 

In the petition, she said Heil’s behavior changed after he allegedly bought cocaine from a local person in Mexico on March 7, 2018. She said he was admitted to the psychiatric unit of the Billings Clinic on March 21. The woman also said Heil was arrested in Whitefish after getting into a fight outside a bar.

She also said that Heil was admitted to Pathways on April 24, 2018, where he was diagnosed with bipolar disorder.

According to Flathead County District Court records, another former wife of Heil’s received an order of protection in April 2018 because of her concerns over his behavior and alleged threats he made due to a mental illness. 

In March 2022, a former coworker of Heil’s also requested an order of protection against Heil. The man said Heil threatened his wife and son as well as his ex-wife. The man said Heil also threatened other people who worked for the construction company where the two worked together in 2017.