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Mecham getting a chance to go straight |
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June 27, 2016 |
A 36-year-old Bonners Ferry man who pled guilty
to a string of burglaries and thefts in 2015 and
2016, including the theft of lumber from the
little white Paradise Valley Church that is
being renovated, will get one chance to avoid a
lengthy prison term after Judge Barbara Buchanan
last week chose to retain jurisdiction.
If Ronald John Mecham, 73 Bachelor Road, can
successfully serve a one-year sentence at
Cottonwood, Buchanan could waive the four year
fixed, six year indeterminate prison sentence
she handed down and afford him the opportunity
to be placed on felony probation instead.
Between August 1, 2015, and November 16, 2016,
Mecham was charged by Bonners Ferry police with
three counts of burglary and three counts of
grand theft by possession of stolen property,
and he pled guilty to breaking into a shop on
Labrosse Hill Road owned by Louis Maggi, a red
Chevy pickup belonging to Joseph Higgins on
Highway 95 near mile 503, for possessing lumber
valued at over $1,000 taken from the Paradise
Valley Church, a 2006 Honda motorcycle belonging
to Lawrence Drake, for taking an assortment of
tools and materials belonging to Caribou Creek
Log Homes, and for stealing $182 worth of
groceries at Super 1 Foods.
In addition to serving a year, Mecham will have
to pay $1,227.50 in costs and restitution to be
determined.
During the court proceedings, Mecham's mother
testified as to his medical problems and
medications he was on, and she told Judge
Buchanan of her son's intention to move to
Tacoma, Washington to get counseling and
rehabilitation.
If he can complete the rigorous program at
Cottonwood, he could be afforded that chance. |
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