Second teen sentenced for Col. Falls vandalism case
Megan Strickland Daily Inter Lake | Hagadone News Network | UPDATED 8 years, 5 months AGO
A second teen was sentenced Friday for causing more than $7,400 in an incident where walls were spray-painted and windows were shot out at Columbia Falls High School on Sept. 22, 2014.
Austin Gostnell, 17, was placed on probation until he is 21. Flathead District Judge Robert Allison also ordered Gostnell to pay $5,000 in restitution.
In April Gostnell pleaded guilty of one misdemeanor count of criminal mischief.
Gostnell told Allison at the change-of-plea hearing that he did not know that his accomplice, Brian Michael Sasser, 18, had brought a BB gun with him to shoot out the windows. Gostnell admitted spray-painting the building but said he ran off when Sasser started shooting at school windows.
Sasser pleaded guilty to misdemeanor criminal mischief earlier this year and was sentenced to probation until age 22 by Flathead District Judge David Ortley.
Ortley required Sasser to obtain the equivalent of a high school diploma and establish a budget to pay restitution.
Reporter Megan Strickland can be reached at 758-4459 or mstrickland@dailyinterlake.com.