A Dayton man was sentenced in Polson District Court Sept. 24 to the Montana Department of Corrections for five years, with all time suspended. He’s currently serving a five-year term at the Montana State Prison for violating terms of probation on a previous conviction.

Orli Christensen Bitsinni, 27, entered a plea of guilty in Polson District Court on July 2 to criminal mischief. Judge John A. Mercer gave Bitsinni credit for having served 231 days in jail. The plea was entered as part of an agreement that dismissed one count of strangulation of a partner or family member.

According to court records, on Oct. 26, 2025, a deputy with the Lake County Sheriff’s Office responded to the Dayton area on a report that a vehicle had entered a gated area of a private ranch. Damage was done to the entry gate. 

Bitsinni was found slumped over in a vehicle with damage to the front, consistent with having rammed a gate. Damage to the gate was estimated at $7,500.

In a separate case, Bitsinni was accused of choking his girlfriend on Feb. 9, 2026, in Polson. That is dismissed under terms of the plea agreement.

In a third matter, he was re-sentenced in Polson District Court on March 26, 2026, to the Montana Department of Corrections for five years. The sentence came with a recommendation he be placed in a secure setting at the Montana State Prison for violating terms of probation. 

At the time, he was on probation stemming from a criminal endangerment conviction from 2018. It’s the second time he has violated terms of probation. 

Bitsinni was initially charged with sexual intercourse without consent for having sex with a 13-year-old girl at a house party in Pablo on June 10, 2018. The girl ended up committing suicide, rendering the case more difficult to prosecute. The rape charge was reduced to criminal endangerment. 

At the time, sentencing for Bitsinni was deferred for a period of three years and he served five days in jail. He later violated conditions of probation on that conviction in 2018. 

He was committed in District Court at Polson Sept. 23, 2020, to the Montana Department of Corrections for 10 years, with five years suspended.