Men required to pay restitution for jail flooding
Cameron Asencio (left) and Keilon Adams (right) (Photos by Jeff Smith)
Trials set for two inmates of the Lake County Detention Center, accused of intentionally flooding the jail, were vacated after their cases were resolved by separate plea agreements.
Keilon James Adams, 27, and Cameron Scott Asencio, 33, were in jail for violating probation. They were charged with felony counts of criminal mischief and tampering with or fabricating physical evidence.
According to charging documents, on Feb. 29, sewage backed up into the back office, hallways, cells and kitchen of the jail. Video surveillance of the jail appears to show the two men putting up a blanket in front of the toilet, cutting off the camera’s view of the jail cell.
Prior to the blanket being used to hinder the camera’s view, a pile of towels was shown in the cell. After about 10 minutes, the blanket was taken down and the towels were in the toilet. The blanket was put up a second time right before the flooding occurred. Both men were in custody on other unrelated charges when the incident occurred.
Adams entered a plea of not guilty to the charges in Polson District Court April 17. Asencio pleaded not guilty to identical charges in the same court April 10. Judge Molly Owen presided over both cases.
Asencio resolved his case earlier by admitting to violations of probation stemming from a perjury conviction. For that, he received a commitment to the Montana Department of Corrections for two years, to run consecutively to a two-year DOC commitment for charges stemming from flooding the jail. He also received a five-year suspended DOC commitment on drug possession charges.
Adam’s plea agreement amended the felony criminal mischief charge from the jail incident to a single misdemeanor and dismissed a charge of tampering with or fabricating physical evidence. Adams was on probation for partner or family member assault and tested positive for methamphetamine.
On June 19, Judge Owen gave Adams a six-month suspended jail sentence on the misdemeanor charge. She also revoked the suspended portion of his initial sentence and gave him a five-year DOC commitment, with none of that suspended.
Each inmate was ordered to pay restitution of $1,375 for damages caused by flooding to the jail.