Spang sentenced to three years probation on assault charge

Correction

The original version of this story misreported a charge to which Jacob Spang pleaded guilty in 2002. Spang pleaded guilty in a plea agreement to intimidation by accountability in connection to a double murder in Havre in 1999.

Spang entered the plea agreement after the Montana Supreme Court overturned jury convictions of two counts of intimidation by accountability and one of tampering with evidence, ruling that statements by Spang made after he said he needed a lawyer should not have been admitted in his trial.

Spang sentenced to three years probation on assault charge

Tim Leeds

Jacob Spang of Havre was sentenced Friday to three years under supervision for his guilty plea on a felony charge of partner or family member assault.

Under the plea agreement under which Spang, born in 1981, entered the plea, a felony charge of intimidation was dismissed.

Spang, who pleaded guilty in a plea agreement in 2002 to a charge of homicide by accountability stemming from a double murder in Havre in 1999, was accused in April of shoving a woman on a bed and putting his knee on her, injuring her lip.

The intimidation charge stemmed from an accusation that he had threatened to damage the woman's car if she attempted to leave.

Both the prosecution and defense agreed to leave the case under the jurisdiction of Judge Dan Boucher, who asked if there was any objection to his presiding over the case because he headed the public defender's office before being appointed the judge in the state 12th Judicial District.

Boucher followed the recommendations in the plea agreement, sentencing Spang to three years, all suspended, and ordering him to serve 30 days in the county jail and to pay court fees and a surcharge. Boucher also ordered Spang to begin paying $150 for his public attorney after one year.

Boucher said the sentence takes into consideration Spang's criminal and social history and gives him a chance to be rehabilitated while being under supervision.

Jacob Spang of Havre was sentenced Friday to three years under supervision for his guilty plea on a felony charge of partner or family member assault.

Under the plea agreement under which Spang, born in 1981, entered the plea, a felony charge of intimidation was dismissed.

Spang, who pleaded guilty in a plea agreement in 2002 to a charge of intimidation by accountability stemming from a double murder in Havre in 1999, was accused in April of shoving a woman on a bed and putting his knee on her, injuring her lip.

The intimidation charge stemmed from an accusation that he had threatened to damage the woman's car if she attempted to leave.

Both the prosecution and defense agreed to leave the case under the jurisdiction of Judge Dan Boucher, who asked if there was any objection to his presiding over the case because he headed the public defender's office before being appointed the judge in the state 12th Judicial District.

Boucher followed the recommendations in the plea agreement, sentencing Spang to three years, all suspended, and ordering him to serve 30 days in the county jail and to pay court fees and a surcharge. Boucher also ordered Spang to begin paying $150 for his public attorney after one year.

Boucher said the sentence takes into consideration Spang's criminal and social history and gives him a chance to be rehabilitated while being under supervision.