By Alan Sorensen
by Alan Sorensen
The Havre Daily News
Wednesday, May 5
Four men pleaded guilty to criminal charges in 12th Judicial District Court recently.
On April 19, Rick LaMond Nieskens, 33, Deer Lodge, pleaded guilty to a charge of theft by fraud. The complaint said that Nieskens passed himself off as an officer of a local service club to charge more than $600 worth of groceries at two Havre stores between Sept. 28 and Oct. 31, 1998.
District Court Judge John Warner ordered a presentence investigation and set sentencing for 10 a.m. June 14. Warner allowed Nieskens to continue work as a bouncer at a bar pending sentencing.
The maximum sentence under law is is 10 years in prison and a fine of $50,000 plus a $20 prosecution fee and $5 surcharge.
Winston Roy Hardy, aka Roy Roberts, 40, Anaconda, pleaded guilty April 19 to a charge of burglary. The charge arose from an incident in which Hardy entered a secured area in a Havre hotel on Nov. 29, 1998, and stole about $200 from a cash register.
Roberts will undergo a presentence investigation and appear in court for sentencing at 10 a.m. June 4.
The maximum penalty is up to 20 years in prison and a fine of up to $50,000.
James D. Head, 34, Havre, pleaded guilty April 26 to issuing a bad check by a common scheme. Head admitted writing 12 checks on an overdrawn account between May 16 and Sept. 12, 1998.
Head was given a one-year deferred imposition of sentence and ordered to pay $894 restitution at $100 per month beginning immediately. He also must remain law-abiding and refrain from alcohol.
Jack Edgar Hampson, 50, Great Falls, pleaded guilty April 26 to three counts of criminal sale of dangerous drugs (methamphetamines). The incidents leading to the charges took place at an apartment in the 500 block of Second Street and two Havre bars in September and October 1997.
A presentence investigation was ordered and Hampson sentencing was set for 10:30 a.m. June 4.
The maximum penalty for each count is not less than one year or more than life in prison and a fine of up to $50,000 plus surcharges and fees.
