Ailport sentenced to 110 years for driving truck into house

A Polson man, convicted at trial of attempted deliberate homicide, arson and criminal mischief, was sentenced in District Court in Polson June 12 to a total of 110 years in the Montana State Prison.

Paul Glen Ailport, 65, had entered an Alford plea to attempted deliberate homicide as part of an agreement reached on Dec. 5, 2024. However, Judge John Larson of Missoula added a 10-year weapons enhancement, which deviated from the plea agreement and opened the door for Ailport to withdraw from it and go to trial.

That trial began in District Court in Polson May 12 and ended the following afternoon with a guilty verdict on all charges. The jury deliberated for less than an hour.

The 110-year prison term is 100 years for attempted deliberate homicide plus 10 years for the weapons enhancement. The judge sentenced him to another 20 years with MSP for arson and 10 years for criminal mischief, but made those terms concurrent with the term he’s serving for attempted homicide.

According to court records, at about 9:20 a.m. Nov. 10, 2023, reports were made to Lake County emergency dispatchers of a truck “crashing into a residence.” The vehicle was engulfed in flames and the driver was slumped over inside.

The reporting party indicated that the driver appeared to deliberately drive the truck into the residence, and reported that Ailport had previously threatened to drive his truck into his neighbor’s home on Paper Trail Road. One neighbor said Ailport had even asked which bedroom belonged to a certain family member.

The property owner pulled Ailport from the truck. He had burns on his back, shoulders, right arm and hand. He had to be transported to a burn unit in Utah for treatment.

An investigation documented “severe fire damage to the northern wall and siding” of the residence. A 19-year-old female was about to step into the shower when the collision knocked a 300-pound steel beam through the wall, which narrowly missed her head.

The investigation also led to the discovery of a 228 shot “Triple Cannon” firework that had fallen out of the truck and ignited. Burn marks in the grass, caused by exploding fireworks, were also documented.

After being treated for his burns in Utah, Ailport was transported back to the Lake County Jail to face charges.

He was already facing charges of criminal endangerment and criminal possession of dangerous drugs at the time. Those charges stem from an incident on July 13, 2023, when Ailport allegedly fired a weapon towards neighbors’ homes while high on methamphetamine.

Ailport had already served 527 days in jail as of the June 12 sentencing hearing.