A federal judge on Tuesday sentenced a Lakeside man to prison for stealing construction equipment from a Kalispell business and trucking it to Idaho.  

Judge Donald Molloy sentenced Eric Brandon Wright, 43, to three years and five months behind bars in U.S. District Court in Missoula on June 23. He will serve three years of supervised release following his stint in prison.  

Wright pleaded guilty to a single count of interstate transportation of stolen property in January.  

After gaining access to a Kalispell business overnight in August 2023, Wright put the firm's digging and mulching equipment on one of its trailers and then used an employee's vehicle to haul it all off the property, authorities said. Although the vehicle turned up a few days later, the stolen equipment remained missing until a tipster reported seeing it up for sale on Facebook.  

Investigators determined it was being sold out of a storage facility in Lewiston, Idaho. The facility's owner led authorities to Wright, officials said.  

Arrested on an unrelated outstanding warrant on Jan. 30, 2024, Wright was questioned about the equipment but insisted he bought it from an individual in Missoula, according to the authorities.  

But using mobile phone data and surveillance video, investigators linked Wright's truck to the Kalispell firm on the night of the theft. 

During a separate theft investigation, authorities went to the Dalton Gardens, Idaho home of Wright's uncle. There they found the trailer taken from the Kalispell company, officials said. They also allegedly discovered Wright's uncle using an electric wheelchair stolen during the Kalispell heist.  

The FBI conducted the investigation in cooperation with the Kalispell Police Department. 

News Editor Derrick Perkins can be reached at 406-758-4430 or [email protected]. If you value local journalism, pledge your support at dailyinterlake.com/support.