Suspended sentence for man in Stoltze copper theft case

The 46-year-old man charged with stripping electrical parts out of trucks and logging equipment belonging to F.H. Stoltze Land & Lumber Co. was given a one-year suspended sentence as arranged in a plea agreement.

Flathead County District Court Judge Ted Lympus sentenced Tim Bauer on Oct. 28. Bauer was also ordered to pay $5,936 in restitution to Stoltze within two years. A $175 fine was levied but suspended.

Bauer was initially charged with felony counts of theft and criminal mischief and faced up to 10 years and a $50,000 fine for each of the two charges.

Under a plea agreement negotiated by public defender Jessica Polan, Bauer pleaded nolo contendere to an amended charge of misdemeanor theft, and the criminal mischief charge was dismissed.

The theft from the Stoltze mill was solved when a man showed up at Pacific Recycling in Kalispell and sold seven pounds of copper, 50 pounds of radiators, 306 pounds of batteries and 146 pounds of aluminum. Two of the batteries were of the same make and model as the missing Stoltze batteries and had identical dates scratched on the top.

Bauer was identified as the man at Pacific Recycling by the driver’s license he presented. A state law now requires that people bringing in a specified amount of certain metals show identification to recycling centers.