The Lakeside man charged after a drug-fueled collision on U.S. 93 just south of Kalispell in 2024 later received a partially suspended sentence in Flathead County District Court.  

Richard Frederick Rowe, 41, pleaded not guilty to a single felony count of criminal endangerment at his May 1, 2025 arraignment before Judge Heidi Ulbricht, but agreed to a plea deal just days later.  

The agreement, which Rowe signed May 14, allowed him to enter a no contest plea to the felony charge. In exchange, prosecutors agreed to recommend he serve a three-year sentence with the state Department of Corrections with two years suspended and pay restitution.  

At his sentencing held that same day, Ulbricht stuck to the terms of the deal. She ordered the sentence to run concurrent with his sentence in a 2024 driving under the influence, fourth of subsequent offense, conviction and recommended he enter a state-run addiction treatment program.  

Ulbricht also gave Rowe credit for 37 days of time served and ordered him to pay $1,000 in restitution.  

Rowe was behind the wheel of a GMC Denali what witnesses described as traveling erratically before it struck another vehicle about 5:40 a.m., Jan. 5, 2024. A toxicology screen showed that Rowe had several types of benzodiazepines in his system, including clonazepam and bromazolam, according to court documents.  

Prosecutors brought Rowe up on a felony charge more than a year after the collision and he was booked into the county jail on April 9, 2025. 

News Editor Derrick Perkins can be reached at 758-4430 or [email protected].