Woman who fled to Spokane sentenced to 15 years in prison
Jesse Davis | Hagadone News Network | UPDATED 10 years, 5 months AGO
A Columbia Falls woman is headed to prison after pleading guilty to a trio of charges.
Bonnie Ulrick, 37, had pleaded guilty Jan. 15 to felony counts of criminal possession of dangerous drugs and deceptive practices. She was released Feb. 20 with the requirement that she wear a GPS monitoring bracelet and a drug-monitoring patch.
A plea agreement in that case included a recommended sentence of five years to the Montana Department of Corrections followed by 10 years of probation.
However, Ulrick cut off the bracelet on March 2 and traveled to Spokane with 33-year-old Kalispell resident Eric Heil. Spokane County Sheriff’s Office deputies investigating a stolen vehicle contacted the pair at a Motel 6, leading to a standoff between the two and a SWAT team.
Heil left the hotel room but Ulrick refused, instead sticking a handgun out the window. It has been reported that Ulrick fired the weapon at SWAT members, although her attorney, Lane Bennett, said the gun was a toy.
A law enforcement agent then fired at Ulrick, with a round striking Ulrick’s left hand, traveling through the gun and out through her right hand. The ring and middle fingers of Ulrick’s left hand and the thumb on her right hand had to be amputated.
During a hearing Thursday in Flathead District Court, Ulrick pleaded guilty to a third felony charge of bail jumping and was sentenced by District Judge Robert Allison to five years on each charge to run consecutively for a total of 15 years to the Montana State Women’s Prison.
Allison also ordered Ulrick to pay nearly $3,500 in restitution.
Heil was sentenced April 3 to three years in the Montana State Prison for violating his sentences in two prior cases.