20th Judicial District Court News
Ronan man slated for jury trial on drug charges
Sean Douglas Jackson, 35 of Ronan, was in Judge Deborah Kim Christopher’s court on June 15. An omnibus hearing was set for Nov 16, 2023, and a jury trial for Jan. 8, 2024. Jackson is charged with two felony counts of criminal possession of dangerous drugs.
The first count is related to an incident that occurred Aug. 24, 2022, when Jackson was driving an automobile and failing to use a turn signal. He didn’t immediately pull over when the officer initiated a stop, and according to the court file, he and a passenger were scrambling around. Jackson moved so much the vehicle swerved in the roadway.
After the car stopped, law enforcement approached and saw Jackson still reaching around in the vehicle. The passenger was a person law enforcement recognized as having outstanding warrants for her arrest. In plain sight in the center console, the officer saw hollow tubes used to inhale drugs as well as a tubular glass pipe commonly used to smoke fentanyl.
Put in handcuffs and Mirandaized, Jackson consented to a search of his vehicle. In a plastic magnetic box under the driver’s seat, officers found 69 blue pills commonly known to contain fentanyl. The plastic box and the pills were sent to the State Crime Lab and identified as fentanyl.
Jackson’s second count stems from an encounter with tribal law enforcement Feb. 7, when he was gambling at the KwaTaqNuk Resort and Casino. The officer, who knew he had outstanding warrants, arrested Jackson and as they were leaving the casino asked he had anything in his pockets. Jackson said he had a tooter and some pills.
The officer found a baggie with 12 blue pills which appeared to be counterfeit oxycodone and also a melted plastic pen sheath, used for inhaling the vapors of dangerous drugs. After Jackson was read his rights, he acknowledged the pills were fentanyl. The pills were sent to the Montana State Crime Laboratory, but the results of the test are not yet available
Bunyea’s sentence deferred for three years
Judge Molly Owen saw Austin Steven Bunyea in her court June 14 for sentencing on one count of felony theft, property exceeding $5,000 in value. The imposition of the sentence was delayed for three years and he was given credit for seven days time served.
Bunyea’s case stems from Sept. 8, 2022, when a man was awakened by his wife, who told him an ATV was in their driveway. The man went outside and saw Bunyea, who he knew, and another man riding an ATV up the driveway into the woods. A black pickup was parked in the driveway with a girl inside.
The man asked the girl what was going on; she said she didn’t know, began honking the horn and then left. Bunyea and the other man came walking back, and Bunyea said hello to the man, who asked if they wrecked the ATV. The other man said, “Almost.” Then he and Bunyea got in the pickup and drove off, forcing the owner of the property to move or get run over.
He had his cell phone and was taking video of Bunyea and the other man, and then he called and reported the theft, since he knew who owned the ATV. He and a friend later found the ATV on land owned by Bunyea’s father.