Mission man sentenced for three separate crimes

A St. Ignatius man was sentenced in District Court in Polson Nov. 14 to a total of 30 years in the Montana State Prison, 25 years suspended, resolving three separate cases.

Eugene Michael Parker, 28, entered a plea agreement during an earlier court appearance in which he pled guilty to robbery. In exchange for his guilty plea, charges of aggravated burglary and assault with a weapon were dismissed. He was sentenced to 17 years in Montana State Prison, with all but two years suspended in that case.

According to court records, on March 26, 2021, a man and woman returned home to find Parker driving their lawnmower away. Parker also stole a shotgun, shells, chainsaw and other items that were contained in a box on the lawnmower.

He pointed a rifle at the reporting party and got into a physical altercation with the man. Parker left, leaving a hat behind. Investigators used DNA from the hat to link Parker to the crime.

Separately, Parker pled guilty to aggravated assault, and was sentenced to 10 years with the Montana State Prison, all suspended, for aggravated assault. Parker admitted to blindsiding a fellow inmate in the Lake County Jail on Sept. 29, 2023, fracturing several of the inmate’s facial bones, including the orbital bone.

Parker was already on probation on a theft charge when these other incidents occurred. In January 2021, he stole a debit card and withdrew a total of $3,255.50 from the account. Parker was given a three-year MSP term for that crime, with none of that time suspended.

Judge John A. Mercer presided over the case and gave Parker credit for having already served 511 days in jail. Parker was also ordered to pay restitution of $3,600.