District Court Report

Several cases have recently been settled in District Court, one of which went to trial.

On October 25th, a jury trial concluded that Theresa Wesland, formerly of Broadus, was not guilty of issuing a bad check for $985.25. The case stemmed from an incident on February 6th, where Wesland bounced a check. The case involved a scam where a “Mystery Shopper” company paid Wesland, but the check was no good. These sorts of scams have been going on for years, according to the Federal Trade Commission. How do you recognize and avoid this scam? Simply ignore emails or advertisements for mystery shopper jobs. They are very likely scams. Most important tip of all: never deposit a check for more than you are owed and wire money back to the person sending you the check, and never consider a payment you receive by check as being in your account until it has fully cleared.

Another case in District Court involved with the Mystery Shopper scam was that of Cory Hopkins, who’s story was similar to Wesland’s.

Cory signed a Deferred Prosecution Agreement on October 2nd, which vacated his hearing, with conditions that he pay back his money owed.

On November 7th Joshua Brown pled guilty in a case stemming from a May 26 assault charge. According to court records, on that date Brown assaulted his partner, Jacqueline Macias, as 215 North Lincoln in Broadus. Brown pled guilty to three charges – one count of partner or family member assault, a second charge of criminal mischief, when he damaged an air conditioner, and a third charge of obstructing a police officer. Brown was ordered to pay $750 in fines, and to attend counseling. He was sentenced to six months in jail, with all but 26 days suspended, and is prohibited from contact with Macias.

Also on November 7th, an arraignment for Gary Brent Dawes, Jr., an enrolled Crow Tribal Member, was held for an Aggravated DUI from September 22nd, which also involved a Criminal Child Endangerment charge, as court records show Dawes had a child under the age of 14 in his vehicle, when he was pulled over east of Ashland. An omnibus hearing regarding the case was continued until January 4th.

The final case on November 7th was that of Kaycee Kolka, who changed her plea to guilty in regards to a felony charge of endangering the welfare of a child. Court records show that the incident occurred between Oct and November of 2017. The charges say that during this time, Kolka knowingly caused or permitted her one-year old daughter to inhale, be exposed to, or ingest methamphetamine. The court deferred Kolka’s sentence for three years, and in the meantime Kolka will have to stay in compliance with a drug monitoring patch, which may be reduced if she enrolls in the treatment court program. She will also be under the supervision of Probation and Parole, and was ordered to pay $80 in court costs.

 

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