A former Whitefish area resident with a lengthy criminal record in Flathead County could be released from state prison before the end of the year.

Christopher Showen, 37, had a hearing with the Montana Board of Pardons and Parole earlier this month and was granted conditional parole in relation to a shooting incident in the Creston area more than four years ago.

Showen was sentenced to 15 years in prison in 2015 after he pleaded guilty to shooting at two motorcyclists on Montana 35 in August 2014.

He is currently incarcerated at the Crossroads Correctional Center in Shelby.

According to an official with the Board of Pardons and Parole, Showen still must present a plan for his release before he can leave prison, which he hasn’t done yet.

One Flathead County resident, Melissa Weis, isn’t happy that Showen may be released.

Weis had a prior relationship with Showen and they had a child together. She admitted to prior criminal activity and drug use. She pleaded guilty in 2014 to embezzling about $6,600 from a law firm where she worked.

In 2013, she was granted a temporary restraining order against Showen after she claimed he abused and threatened her. She also claimed he wouldn’t let her see her son, their child, and that he had a handgun.

“This is a man who has threatened our community numerous times and yet they still let him out,” Weis said in an email to the Daily Inter Lake. “Why didn’t the state of Montana protect any of us. I have three children and it concerns me for their safety ... Letting him out was a huge mistake. His actions show he will do this again.”

Weis said she has known Showen for about 10 years.

Weis emailed the Inter Lake a copy of a message she received from Montana Institutional Probation and Parole officer Daniel Knust. It indicated that Showen planned to relocate to Deer Park, Washington. It also said the process takes an average of 45 days to complete.

Showen was acquitted of murder charges in 1999 after law enforcement officials alleged he shot his 19-year-old friend, C.J. Storkson, and buried him in the woods.

But Mario Daniels, a witness for the prosecution who pleaded guilty to stealing the gun that was used in the murder and who helped dispose of Storkson’s body, changed his story several times about what happened, muddying the water for jurors who found Showen not guilty.

But Showen’s legal problems were far from over. In 2006, Showen received a five-year suspended sentence after entering an Alford plea to conspiracy to commit assault with a weapon. That incident involved a shootout at the police station in Eureka.

In 2004, Showen was convicted of misdemeanor reckless endangerment, resulting in a year in jail, after he fired a handgun toward people at a bonfire in Alaska. He served one year in jail for that incident.

After the August 2014 incident, Showen entered an Alford plea in March 2015 to one felony count of assault with a weapon. A second count of assault with a weapon was dismissed in the plea agreement.

An Alford plea means the defendant doesn’t admit guilt, but would likely be found guilty at trial.

Showen, who was free on bail while waiting to be sentenced, fled to California where he was arrested the next month.

Flathead District Judge Heidi Ulbricht sentenced Showen to 15 years in Montana State Prison with five years suspended for the shooting incident, and a consecutive 10-year term with five years suspended for bail jumping.

Reporter Scott Shindledecker may be reached at 406-758-4441 or sshindledecker@dailyinterlake.com.