C-Falls man sentenced for DUI No. 4

A 53-year-old Columbia Falls man was sentenced May 16 on felony DUI charge after he pleaded guilty in Flathead County District Court.

Judge David Ortley sentenced Terry Seliger to 13 months with the Montana Department of Corrections, with recommendation for placement at an appropriate in-patient treatment facility followed by required after-care treatment.

He was also given a three-year consecutive and suspended sentence, fined $1,000 with half suspended and ordered to pay $800 in public defender fees with half suspended.

According to court records, a Montana Highway Patrol trooper responded to Plum Creek property in Columbia Falls on New Year’s Day in 2013 about 5:15 p.m. after Seliger was stopped by a security guard. The trooper reported smelling alcohol, that Seliger’s eyes were bloodshot, and that he slurred his words.

Seliger also allegedly admitted drinking, showed signs of intoxication during field sobriety tests, told the trooper he “could give me a DUI now,” and blew a 0.257 BAC at the county jail. A check of his driving history revealed DUI convictions in November 1989, February 1991 and May 1994.