Prosecutors want to revoke the suspended sentence of a Hungry Horse man convicted in connection with a 2023 shooting in the canyon.  

Charged with felony criminal endangerment in Flathead County District Court in November 2023, 44-year-old Michael Raymond Loncto struck a deal with prosecutors the following January. In exchange for a guilty plea, prosecutors agreed to recommend he serve a deferred three-year sentence, pay restitution and court-imposed fines, and undergo a mental health evaluation.  

Loncto was accused of driving around Hungry Horse while shooting a gun in the early morning hours of Nov. 29, 2023. When Flathead County Sheriff’s Office deputies tried to pull him over, Loncto allegedly sped away on U.S. 2. Authorities eventually stopped him with spike strips near Columbia Falls, court documents said.  

Judge Danni Coffman stuck to the terms of the arrangement at Loncto's May 30, 2024 sentencing and gave him credit for 101 days of time served.  

But Loncto was back in hot water by that fall, according to court documents. In October, probation and parole officers filed a report of violation, accusing Loncto of absconding. Coffman revoked the deferred sentence, replacing it with a suspended three-year sentence to the state Department of Corrections.  

Loncto complied with the rules of probation and parole for a short period following the revocation, according to a violation report filed in district court. But by October 2025 he was back in county jail.  

Meeting with him at the Flathead County Detention Center, probation officers learned he had moved his camper to a new location. Instructed to check in within several days of being released, Loncto allegedly failed to do so. Probation officers were subsequently unable to track him down at his new address.  

Loncto resumed contact with his probation officers in November and admitted to regularly drinking alcohol while cutting firewood, the report states. Probation officers reprimanded Loncto and recommended he undergo chemical dependency and mental health treatment. Warned that another drinking violation would result in alcohol monitoring, Loncto allegedly refused to cooperate.  

Loncto was scheduled for another check-in with probation officers on Nov. 21 but asked to reschedule because of a job opportunity, according to the report. But he allegedly missed his rescheduled appointment in December and probation officers lost track of him.  

"[Loncto] has a clear disregard for following the court ordered conditions," wrote Probation and Parole Officer Brianne Marshall in the violation report. "He fails to show up when scheduled, openly admits he will not stop consuming alcohol and is a risk to the community." 

Marshall recommended that Loncto, if found in violation of the conditions of his supervision, receive a three-year sentence with the state Department of Corrections and undergo a state substance abuse treatment program before heading to a pre-release center. 

Authorities booked Loncto back into the county jail, where he remains with bail set at $25,000, on Jan. 28. He is expected in court on March 9 for a hearing on the petition to revoke his suspended sentence.