20th Judicial District Court News
Bockman sentenced to five years for felony theft
Elliot Wayne Bockman was sentenced in Judge Molly Owen’s court on June 28. He was committed to the Department of Corrections for 10 years, with five years suspended, for felony theft valued at more than $5,000.
Bockman’s case stems from Nov. 23, 2017, when a Polson police officer received a call that a man’s 2016 Ford F150 pickup had been stolen and was headed towards Pablo. A tribal police officer located the vehicle in front of a residence on Clairmont Road in Polson.
Bockman was sitting in the driver’s side seat of the vehicle when the officer arrived. He was placed under arrest and in a subsequent search a Clonazcpam pill was discovered under Bockman’s leg.
The man who owned the pickup said he didn’t know Bockman and did not give him permission to use the pickup, resulting in a charge of felony theft.
Bockman did not appear in court and a warrant for his arrest was issued Nov. 15, 2018. He was picked up on the warrant on April 18, 2023.
In a plea agreement on April 27, Bockman agreed to plead guilty to an amended offense of felony theft, value over $5,000. The state and the defense jointly recommend Bockman be committed to the Department of Corrections for 10 years with five years suspended. They recommended he be placed at Nexus and then pre-release. In exchange, the state agreed to dismiss four Lake County Justice Court tickets for criminal possession of dangerous drugs – three of those were felony charges.
Carpenter receives deferred sentence for partner endangerment
Judge Molly Owen saw Isaac Thomas Carpenter in her court on June 28 for sentencing. Carpenter is charged with one count of felony criminal endangerment of partner or family member. Imposition of his sentence was deferred for three years. He received credit for four days served in jail, and was committed to the Adult Probation and Parole Department.
The case began on Feb. 10, 2023, when a woman called 911 to report that her boyfriend, Issac Thomas Carpenter, tried to choke her. After two deputies arrived and interviewed her, the victim said when she entered the house, Carpenter threw her down, beat her up, and then tried to choke her. The victim stated she couldn’t breathe and was trying to push him off.
She tried to get out the front door, and Thomas knocked her into something and knocked her out. She woke up outside the house on the porch with Thomas kicking her and yelling. When asked how he choked her, the victim said Thomas put his forearm against the front of her throat and began to put pressure on her throat.
The deputies observed an injury on the inside of her lip, a goose egg on the back of her head, her face was covered in blood, and her bottom lip was swollen. An officer also reported a cut on the side of her nose and red marks on each side of her throat.
When she removed her coat, the officer saw blood all over the front of her, and there was blood all over the kitchen floor. The victim and Thomas had been dating for approximately 10 months. The victim went to the hospital for medical care; her nose was broken.
Carpenter was charged with one count of felony strangulation of partner or family member.