A Californian with a long criminal record and accused of felony charges of writing a bad check and forgery pleaded guilty Monday in Lincoln County District Court.

Forty-two-year-old John E. Nieblas, also known as John Eugene Kelton, initially pleaded not guilty to the offenses. But in his most recent court appearance, he pleaded guilty to forgery, exceeding $5,000. It carries a maximum 10-year term in the Montana State Prison.

The plea deal calls for a 10-year prison sentence with seven suspended. He must also pay $1,988.19.

Charges for writing a bad check and another forgery, for an amount between $1,500 and $5,000, were dismissed after a plea deal was arranged between defense attorney S. Charles Sprinkle and County Attorney Marcia Boris.

Nieblas remains in the county jail. Sprinkle said his client would seek a release on his own recognizance in the future.

Judge Matt Cuffe set sentencing for Dec. 4.

According to the charging document, county Sheriff’s Office Det. David Hall reported Nieblas has an extensive criminal history in California, including charges and convictions for forgery, grand theft, burglaries, stolen vehicles, possession of forged notes, making and passing fake checks and multiple drug charges.

The local case began on May 24 when Det. Hall received a call from an employee at Lincoln County Credit Union who said a man had deposited a Glacier Bank check into the ATM machine in the early morning hours. The employee said the man returned before the bank opened and received cash from the ATM machine. When she called Glacier Bank about the account, she learned it did not exist.

She also told Det. Hall that the man driving the truck, later identified as Nieblas, had a passenger, identified as Myron Roe, who was seen lighting a glass pipe while at the ATM. Det. Hall described Roe as a local criminal and drug user.

Hall also wrote that county Deputy Kirk Kraft had taken a report on May 17 from Shelby Kujawa. The woman said she received a $3,000 Glacier Bank check from Nieblas and deposited it into a Glacier Bank ATM in the parking lot of Ace Hardware. Kujawa told Deputy Kraft that Nieblas had her go back several times and get cash from this check.

According to Hall’s report, one check, written for $5,250, belonged to a woman who died in February 2020. Hall reported that checks were written for $3,100 and $3,000.

He also reported that the 2012 black Dodge pickup driven by Nieblas is owned by Jeffery Edward Smith, the step father of Matthew Priebe. According to Hall, Nieblas is Priebe’s uncle. Priebe is currently locked up in the county jail on drug charges.

On May 25, Det. Hall met with a credit union employee and received a timeline of the check incidents. She reported that Nieblas opened an account with the credit union on May 5. On May 23, Nieblas allegedly deposited a check for $3,100, then removed $500 later that day. On May 24, she said Nieblas deposited the $5,250 check, then removed $500 a few minutes later.

The credit union called Nieblas and he said he was in Utah. They saw on the ATM video that Nieblas has allegedly tried to remove money on May 24, but his account had been locked at the time. The employee said the credit union was out $2,000 because of the alleged fake checks.