Man gets 10 years after charged with DUI No. 5

A 48-year-old Columbia Falls man was sentenced to 10 years with the Montana Department of Corrections after a prior sentence for felony criminal mischief was revoked and he was charged with DUI No. 5 while undergoing alcohol treatment.

Brian Colby, who in the 1980s served 164 months in a Washington state prison for murder, was first arrested by Flathead County deputies on Jan. 26, 2008, after he rammed a Coram man’s 2000 Pontiac Grand Prix into the man’s house.

Colby at the time worked in Browning and stayed with his girlfriend in Coram on weekends. The owner of the Pontiac said he and his wife had been having difficulties with Colby.

Following a plea agreement, Colby was sentenced by Flathead County District Court Judge Ted Lympus on Sept. 18, 2008, to five years in prison, all suspended, Colby was also ordered to pay $6,843 in restitution, a $500 net fine and $500 in public defender fees.

Colby was arrested for a fourth DUI in August 2009. Deputies responding to a Columbia Falls Police Department attempt-to-locate dispatch saw Colby’s truck on U.S. 2 swerving across the centerline and nearly hit two vehicles.

The deputies chased Colby with top lights flashing and the siren on for some distance before he stopped. His speech was allegedly slurred, and he blew a 0.177 blood-alcohol content. Deputies found Colby had prior DUI convictions in March 1998, March 2000 and September 2008.

Following advice that Colby was a good candidate for probation, Lympus did not revoke Colby’s felony criminal mischief sentence and sentenced him for DUI No. 4 to 13 months with the Department of Corrections with three more years suspended and concurrent.

Colby also racked up several probation violations between 2008 and 2012, including smoking marijuana in February 2009, blowing a 0.186 BAC in September 2011 and driving without a court-ordered ignition interlock on his vehicle.

Deputies encountered Colby again on Feb. 4 this year when he pulled out of the Town Pump at U.S. 2 and Highway 40 and nearly hit a northbound sheriff’s patrol car. Again, Colby was followed with top lights flashing and the siren on before he pulled over.

When asked why he didn’t stop, Colby allegedly responded, “I figured you were going to take me in, why I wanted to get home.” After allegedly admitting to having “three or four” drinks, Colby reacted to a field sobriety test by saying, “How about if I just say I’m drunk.”

He was charged with DUI No. 5, no insurance No. 2, driving with a revoked driver’s license, careless driving and violating his probation conditions. He blew a 0.146 BAC at the county jail.

Lympus revoked Colby’s 2008 and 2009 sentences on April 26. He then sentenced Colby on July 26 to five years with credit for time served for the criminal mischief case; to three years concurrent with credit for time served for DUI No. 4; and to five years consecutive to the other two sentences for DUI No. 5. The net sentence was 10 years with the Department of Corrections.