Lakeside man gets prison time for stealing construction equipment

A Lakeside man who stole more than $180,000 worth of construction equipment from a Kalispell business and trucked it to Idaho was sentenced today to three years and five months in prison.

Acting U.S. Attorney Mark Steger Smith said in a press release that Eric Brandon Wright, 43, pleaded guilty in January 2026 to one count of interstate transportation of stolen property. He will be subject to three years of supervised release, 

The government alleged in court documents that Wright stole $181,890 worth of construction equipment from RDO Rental Equipment in Kalispell.

Over the night of Aug. 23 and into the early morning of Aug. 24, 2023, Wright found his way into RDO and stole various pieces of digging and mulching equipment, along with a Towmaster trailer. Wright then used the trailer, hooking it up to an employee’s vehicle, to haul the equipment from the business. The employee’s vehicle was found a few days later, but a motorized wheelchair that had been kept in it was missing. 

Law enforcement received a tip on Jan. 19, 2024, that Wright was selling construction equipment on Facebook, which they tracked to a storage facility in Lewiston, Idaho. Detectives spoke with the facility’s owner, who confirmed Wright had been renting storage space there. On Jan. 30, 2024, officers arrested Wright on an unrelated outstanding warrant and questioned him about the RDO theft. Wright denied stealing the equipment, saying he bought it from someone in Missoula.

Using cell phone data and surveillance video, investigators linked Wright’s truck to RDO the night of the theft. Responding to a report of a separate theft, officers were called to the residence of Wright’s uncle in Dalton Gardens, Idaho, where they discovered the missing Towmaster trailer. They also noticed the uncle using an electric wheelchair similar to the one stolen from the employee’s vehicle.

The U.S. Attorney’s Office prosecuted the case. The Kalispell Police Department and FBI conducted the investigation. U.S. District Judge Donald W. Molloy presided.