A Lake County man was sentenced to prison for eight years for unlawful possession of a firearm by a prohibited person. Gaige Alexander Caye, 23, was also sentenced to eight years in the Montana State Prison on one count of tampering with, or fabricating, physical evidence, which will run concurrently to the unlawful possession charge.

He entered a plea of guilty to those charges in District Court at Polson Feb. 12, 2025. The plea was entered as part of an agreement that dismisses one count of assault with a weapon.

According to court records, on July 8, 2024, a woman contacted law enforcement to report Caye  was at her residence on BlueBird Lane, east of Ronan. Caye got into an argument with her and threatened to kill her with a shotgun.

Multiple law enforcement agencies responded and immediately took one male into custody. That person told law enforcement that Caye was armed with a rifle, pistol and body armor.

Caye initially refused to exit the garage of the residence, where he and several others were hiding. He is registered as a violent offender for a robbery conviction in March 2019. He also had absconded from probation and had an active warrant for his arrest.

Flathead County’s SWAT team assisted authorities in Lake County with the armed stand-off. Caye was eventually persuaded to surrender peacefully. Several other known drug users were also found hiding in the garage.

Caye admitted that he had a pistol when he confronted the woman who contacted law enforcement, but denied pointing it at her. Caye told investigators where he had stashed his firearm, which had an extended capacity magazine.

A search warrant was obtained to search the residence. An officer found a Glock 9 mm handgun where Caye said it would be, including 15 rounds of ammo in the magazine. Law enforcement also found shotgun shells and drug paraphernalia during the search.

Judge Molly Owen gave Caye credit for having served 590 days in jail.

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