Men sentenced for attempted jailbreak

Two Lake County men recently appeared in District Court in Polson for sentencing on an attempted jail escape that injured a detention officer.

Justice Raven Nicolai, 29, of Ronan, was sentenced on Aug. 28 by Judge Molly Owen to the Montana State Prison for 10 years, with all but time served, 204 days, suspended for felony criminal endangerment. Nicolai was serving a four-year suspended prison sentence stemming from an aggravated assault conviction in 2019 at the time of the new offense. The terms will run consecutively to another five-year suspended prison sentence on a third assault conviction for punching and kicking another inmate in the face in the Lake County Jail Feb. 26.

His co-defendant in the escape attempt, Leland Juniper Ambrose Redcloud, 24, of Pablo, was sentenced on Aug. 29 by Judge John Mercer to the Montana State Prison for five years with three years suspended and given credit for having served 146 days in jail. Redcloud also was on probation on a number of drug possession charges at the time of the attempted escape.

The sentences were part of a larger, complex plea agreement encompassing all cases each man was facing.

According to court records, on April 5, a Lake County Detention Officer was attempting to retrieve a mop and bucket from a restricted area in the jail when Nicolai and Redcloud physically prevented the officer from shutting the door to the area as he left. 

The officer was threatened with physical harm as he continued to ask the inmates to stop preventing him from closing the door. The resulting struggle, which injured the officer, continued until another detention officer arrived to assist.