Hungry Horse man's 10-year sentence revoked

A 42-year-old former Hungry Horse man’s felony sentence from 2006 was revoked by Flathead County District Court Judge Heidi Ulbricht on Feb. 28 after he allegedly racked up numerous probation violations.

Ronald Millward’s 10-year sentence with five years suspended for felony criminal endangerment was reinstated with credit for time served and a recommendation that he be screened for the Missoula Assessment and Sanction Center program.

According to court records, Millward was arrested on Nov. 30, 2005, after he reportedly assaulted his wife, throwing her against a wall and on the floor, grabbing her throat and hitting her with a rack, and running an electrical circular saw near her face. Their 13-year-old son witnessed the assault.

Millward’s wife and father-in-law had reported two months earlier suspicions that Millward had stolen checks and about $500 in cash from the father-in-law’s store. Millward also allegedly threatened to harm his wife and father-in-law and to burn down his father-in-law’s store in the months prior to his arrest.

Millward was initially charged with felony counts of assault with a weapon and intimidation and a misdemeanor count of theft, but a third felony count of witness tampering was added after he allegedly called people to try to get his wife to drop the charges.

A plea agreement was reached six months after his arrest in which all the charges would be dismissed in exchange for Millward pleading guilty to one felony count of criminal endangerment.

In July 2006, Millward’s wife sent a letter to Judge Stewart Stadler “praying for rehabilitation, not crucifixion.” Millward had been sober for eight months while locked up in the county jail and she was no longer afraid of him, she wrote. Her husband needed drug and marriage counseling, not a long prison sentence, she said.

Sticking with the plea agreement, Stadler sentenced Millward on Aug. 3, 2006, to 10 years with five suspended and $3,868 in restitution. Stadler cited the nature of Millward’s offense and his prior criminal and drug abuse history, and he recommended Millward for placement in the state’s Connections Corrections program.

In January 2007, as Millward prepared to leave the Butte pre-release center, his wife wrote again to Stadler requesting that Millward’s release conditions be amended so he could return to live with her and their two children. Stadler agreed.

Evidence to revoke Millward’s sentence started with a July 2012 probation report claiming Millward failed to report in person 18 times, failed to fill out monthly reports and failed to pay supervision fees. Millward’s UA tests allegedly indicated methamphetamine use on two occasions.

A petition to revoke his sentence was filed in August 2012. A second probation report in December 2012 claimed another UA test indicated meth use, that a meth pipe was found at his residence, and a surveillance video showed him using a stolen credit card.

A Flathead County Sheriff’s Office report in February 2013 claimed Millward had not paid for rooms he rented at the Super 8 Motel in Columbia Heights and later the Blue and White Motel in Kalispell.