The Montana Supreme Court agreed with Lake County District Judge Deborah Kim Christopher and ordered that a felon pay more than $26,000 in restitution for stealing from his Ronan employer, Westland Seed.

John Cresswell Dovey, 41, received a six-year deferred sentence in July 2015 for stealing cash deposits, guns and other merchandise from Westland Seed while he was an employee.

Westland Seed’s insurance company reimbursed most of the loss. Dovey’s attorney argued he should only be held responsible for the $300 in damages not covered by insurance.

“A victim should be entitled to unrecovered losses in criminal restitution,” attorney Martin W. Judnich wrote in the Nov. 2, 2015, appeal. “There is no reasonable dispute that Westland Seed has received full payment for all losses, less $300.”

Judge Christopher disagreed.

“I’m going to let you appeal this to the Supreme Court, if you want to,” Christopher said at sentencing, according to court records. “Because from the court’s bottom line, these were the items that were taken from Westland Seed. I don’t see any reason why the defendant benefits from whether Westland Seed has insurance or not ... And if the Supreme Court wants to change that, then based on the law then, certainly the court looks forward to being overruled.”

The Montana Supreme Court sided with Christopher in its May 17 ruling.

“Boiled down, Dovey’s argument is that he is more deserving of the windfall from his victim’s insurance policy than is his victim,” Justice James Jeremiah Shea wrote. “We opt to stay on this side of the looking-glass and affirm the District Court’s judgment.”

Reporter Megan Strickland can be reached at 758-4459 or mstrickland@dailyinterlake.com.