Wednesday, January 22, 2025
10.0°F

Second man involved in bungled burglary pleads guilty

DERRICK PERKINS | Hagadone News Network | UPDATED 2 years, 5 months AGO
by DERRICK PERKINS
Daily Inter Lake | July 28, 2022 12:00 AM

Another of the four men accused of breaking into the wrong Kalispell home during a planned burglary has reached a deal with prosecutors.

Colton Theodore Wieczorek, 19, pleaded guilty June 23 in Flathead County District Court to criminal endangerment. Prosecutors initially charged him with conspiracy to commit burglary for his role in the aborted March break-in.

As part of the agreement, they will recommend he receive a three year deferred sentence and pay a $1,000 fine. Judge Robert Allison accepted the guilty plea and set sentencing for Sept. 1.

Wieczorek joins Branden Lee Alden Billings in admitting participating in the failed break-in. According to court documents, they and alleged co-conspirators Joseph Craig Neva and Joseph Claude Victoria planned to burglarize a mutual acquaintance of money and drugs. In anticipation, the group bought gloves and donned head coverings, court documents said.

But when they kicked in the door of a Fourth Avenue East home they realized they were at the wrong address. The resident, who was watching television, screamed when she saw a masked head poke through the space where her door once stood, court documents said.

The would-be burglars then fled on foot to a nearby pickup, which drove off.

All were later arrested and charged with conspiracy to commit burglary. Victoria earned an additional tampering with a witness or informant charge for allegedly threatening his accomplices against cooperating with investigators.

Billings pleaded guilty to conspiracy to commit burglary June 20, acknowledging that he kicked in the door during the break-in.

“I was told there was marijuana and money there — a lot,” he said of the group’s intended target.

In exchange for his guilty plea, prosecutors will recommend Billings serve a suspended five-year sentence. His sentencing is set for Sept. 22.

As for the other accused would-be burglars, both Neva and Victoria have a pretrial conferences scheduled for Nov. 16.

News Editor Derrick Perkins can be reached at 758-4430 or dperkins@dailyinterlake.com.

MORE LOCAL-NEWS STORIES

Third Kalispell burglar sentenced in district court
Daily Inter-Lake | Updated 2 years ago
One of four bungling burglars pleads guilty
Daily Inter-Lake | Updated 2 years, 7 months ago
Four allegedly would-be burglars plead not guilty
Daily Inter-Lake | Updated 2 years, 9 months ago

ARTICLES BY DERRICK PERKINS

Woman accused of pulling out knife at hospital pleads not guilty to felony charge
January 20, 2025 11 p.m.

Woman accused of pulling out knife at hospital pleads not guilty to felony charge

Amber Rose Wenzl, 44, pleaded not guilty to the felony before Judge Danni Coffman in Flathead County District Court on Jan. 16.

Motorist in drug-fueled wreck given partially suspended sentence
January 16, 2025 11 p.m.

Motorist in drug-fueled wreck given partially suspended sentence

Prosecutors charged Jason Robert Skalsky, 52, with felony negligent vehicular assault in the wake of the Feb. 25 wreck near the intersection of Woodland Avenue and Willow Glen Drive.

Brother faces felony for allegedly threatening sibling with kitchen knife
January 13, 2025 11 p.m.

Brother faces felony for allegedly threatening sibling with kitchen knife

Erick Navarijo faces one count of felony assault with a weapon in Flathead County District Court following his Jan. 2 arrest at a home on Tamarack Way.