20th Judicial District Court News

Steinebach’s suspended sentence for aggravated assault revoked

Anthony Steinebach was in Judge Deborah “Kim” Christopher’s court on July 21 for a revocation hearing. The court found Steinebach’s admissions sufficient to satisfy the allegations in the petition, and the defendant’s suspended sentence for felony aggravated assault was revoked. An adjudicatory hearing was set for Thursday, Aug. 17.

Steinebach’s case stems from an Aug. 9, 2016, incident when law enforcement responded to a report of a domestic disturbance. According to court records, Steinebach, while retrieving his belongings, accused his ex-wife of being with other men, and attempted to strangle her. He threw her phone at the wall and shattered it, began screaming at her, dumped milk on her, grabbed her face and forcefully held her facedown to the bed until she had difficulty breathing.

The victim tried to call her mom, but her phone was in pieces and wouldn’t work. She wrenched free and went to the door to try to get the neighbors’ attention, but he became more angry and strangled her again to the point she felt faint and dizzy. The victim was five weeks pregnant at the time.

Steinebach was charged with one count of felony aggravated assault and assigned a $10,000 bond.

On Nov. 10, 2016, Steinebach agreed to plead guilty to felony aggravated assault. He was sentenced May 20, 2017, to the Department of Corrections for 10 years, with five years suspended.

He also received a five-year suspended sentence for an earlier case, dating back to Aug.3, 2016, when he went to the victim’s house and began antagonizing her and punching objects in the house. She threatened to call law enforcement if he continued breaking things. A witness saw Steinebach kick in the door, heard the victim screaming, and came back to see him holding the victim by the throat.

Steinebach was charged with one count of felony aggravated assault, and pleaded guilty on Nov. 1, 2016.

On May 3, 2017, Steinebach was found guilty of felony aggravated assault, committed to the Department of Corrections for a term of five years with none suspended. The court recommended Steinebach complete batterers' intervention and anger management programs prior to any release.

Steinebach attempted the pre-release program in Helena two times and was not successful either time. He was placed at START – a program that aims to hold offenders accountable for violating terms of placement while offering the assessment and relapse prevention services they need – and went to Montana State Prison on Feb. 28, 2020. His commitment ended on Oct. 11, 2021, and he started his five-year suspended sentence for the other case in Polson.

Adult Probation and Parole filed an alleged violation on June 26, 2023, for a felony partner and family member assault in Sanders County. Steinebach appeared on June 27, and a $50,000 bond was placed on him.

According to Adult Probation, Steinebach was compliant with supervision from October 2021 until November 2023; he wanted his children returned to him. In November of 2022 he had a physical altercation with his paramour and an associated driving altercation. He was charged and convicted of careless driving.

The court recommended he enter counseling with Cedar Creek, a health facility dealing with trauma, anger management, addiction and other issues. Child Protective Services was involved and recommended Steinebach attend batterer’s Intervention and parenting classes.

According to court records, Steinbach is a registered violent offender on community supervision for assault with a weapon. He has been charged with a new violent felony offense in Sanders County, and his current behavior shows he is a risk to the community.

Lafley’s sentence for drug possession revoked

District Judge Kim Christopher saw Craig James Lafley in her court on July 20. His deferred sentence for felony criminal possession of dangerous drugs was revoked. Sam Newton, Lafley’s attorney, said Lafley has a bed date in three days at Recovery Montana. Sentencing is set for Aug. 31.

Lafley’s case began on Aug. 10, 2017, when two law enforcement officers were in the Arlee High School parking lot when they saw a white pickup speeding and being pursued by Tribal Police. The two deputies joined the chase and the vehicle was pulled over near Lemly Road. The deputy who made the stop could see there was no one in the driver’s seat but was informed by the tribal officers that the driver was now in the back seat. Lafley resisted exiting the vehicle and had to be assisted out of the car, was handcuffed, and then secured in a patrol vehicle.

Tribal police told officers Lafley had an active warrant out of Idaho and also had four prior DUI convictions. They turned Lafley over to the deputies to conduct a DUI investigation. He was then transported to the Lake County Jail, where he was found to be in possession of a syringe.

He refused to cooperate with standard DUI processing so officers obtained a DUI search warrant, and he was transported to the hospital for a blood draw. At that time Lafley said he was coming down from heroin.

He was read the Idaho warrant and remained in jail until his court appearance, when he was charged with one felony count of driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs, fourth or subsequent offense, and a second count of misdemeanor criminal possession of drug paraphernalia.

When Lafley failed to show up for court appearances, a warrant for his arrest was issued and served on Jan. 17, 2019. In a plea agreement, Lafley agreed to plead guilty to felony driving under the influence of alcohol or drugs, fourth or subsequent offense, and the state agreed to dismiss misdemeanor criminal possession of drug paraphernalia.

In a May 20, 2019, judgment, the court rejected the plea agreement. Based on Lafley’s significant criminal history and the fact that the state is not proceeding on the other charges, the judge told Lafley that the court would only impose the maximum sentence on the charge and he was committed to the Department of Corrections for placement in an appropriate correctional facility or program for a term of 13 months. However, on June 6, 2019, Lafley was transported to the Montana State Prison due to the outstanding warrant in Idaho, which made him ineligible for an inpatient drug and alcohol treatment program.

On Feb. 13, 2020, Lafley started his community supervision with Polson Adult Probation and Parole.

He was found in violation of parole on Sept. 16, 2021, when he was found with a methamphetamine-loaded syringe, a glass pipe used to smoke methamphetamine, and a glass snort tube. Additional violations were recorded and the most recent warrant was issued for his arrest on Oct. 21, 2021, and was served on June 12, 2023.