Ronan woman ordered to pay back money stolen from trust fund

A Ronan woman, who admitted to stealing funds from a family trust account, learned her fate. The imposition of sentencing was deferred for six years for Lindsay Montgomery Polchies, 38, during a sentencing hearing in Polson District Court May 28.

Judge Molly Owen also ordered her to pay restitution of $22,274.38. The sentence was in accordance with a plea agreement reached in February when Polchies pled guilty to felony theft.

According to court records, in March 2018, a woman with the initials M.M., hired a Polson attorney to prepare a will on her behalf. The charging documents show that she wanted to set up a trust fund for her grandchildren and named Polchies as the trustee.

M.M. passed away before getting the trust fund set up, so the attorney set up the trust fund on behalf of the grandchildren. After one of the grandchildren passed away, the attorney began receiving calls from friends of the family. They had concerns that other family members were trying to gain control of the trust.

The attorney took over the trust and discovered Polchies had withdrawn $5,000 from it. Records show Polchies spent another $7,904.18 from the trust between March 11, 2024, and June 28, 2024.