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Blue Moon Nite Club incident lands man in prison

by Richard Hanners Hungry Horse News
| February 12, 2014 7:28 AM

Four weeks after a 36-year-old Columbia Falls man was re-sentenced for a shooting incident two years earlier in Columbia Falls, he was found in possession of a Smith & Wesson .357 magnum handgun following an incident at the Blue Moon Nite Club.

That and other probation violations were enough to convince Flathead County District Court Judge David Ortley to sentence Joby Bealmer on Jan. 29 to 10 years in prison with six suspended.

Bealmer’s case began in October 2011 when deputies responded to a shooting report at 13th Street East North, just outside the Columbia Falls city limits, and had trouble arresting him. Local police were aware for some time that Bealmer was the president of Montana Crew, the local chapter of the Brother Speed Motorcycle Club, of Portland, Ore.

According to court records, Bealmer told deputies he was returning home from the Columbia Bar and thought he saw a light go off in his house and heard the back door open. He allegedly told deputies he went to his truck, got his gun and “dumped some ***king lead” into the woods behind his home. An SKS assault-type rifle and a handgun were found in the pickup truck he was driving.

Bealmer pleaded guilty in March 2012 by way of an Alford plea to a felony count of threats in official matters. In an Alford plea, a defendant doesn’t admit guilt but agrees that the state’s evidence is sufficient to bring a conviction. A resisting arrest and DUI charge were dropped.

Ortley gave Bealmer a two-year deferred sentence in May 2012, but he was arrested in September 2012 and charged with partner-family assault. His blood alcohol content at the time was 0.107. He later was accused of slashing three tires on a Ford Explorer in Hungry Horse in November 2012.

Noting that that the state had petitioned twice to revoke Bealmer’s two-year deferred sentence because of probation violations, Ortley re-sentenced Bealmer on Oct. 4, 2013, to three years deferred. Bealmer was also ordered to report to his probation officer every other week for the first four months. He had been living in South Dakota.

Bealmer was arrested again on Dec. 17, 2013, after a bartender at the Blue Moon Nite Club requested assistance for a patron who punched a hole in the ceiling and wouldn’t leave. By the time a deputy arrived, Bealmer was pinned to the ground outside by several other patrons. A bartender reported that Bealmer had taken a swing at him after being confronted about the damage.

Bealmer, who appeared drunk, was handcuffed and placed in the patrol car. The deputy allegedly found a small glass pot pipe on Bealmer, an unopened 30-pack of Coors Light inside his pickup topper, and empty beer cans inside the cab. The deputy also found a handgun under the driver’s seat.

Bealmer reportedly refused to provide a breath sample at the county jail, shouting, “No, no, I’m not doing it, you guys lied to me last time.” Allegedly he passively resisted efforts to move him into a cell, and once inside the cell, he repeatedly kicked the door, damaging the striker plate.

Bealmer was cited for assault, criminal mischief at the Blue Moon, criminal mischief in the jail cell and possession of drug paraphernalia, all misdemeanors. A probation officer recommended the three-year deferred sentence be revoked and Bealmer be sentenced to five years in prison.

“The defendant appears to have little regard to the conditions this court placed on him,” the probation report said. “It is clear the defendant is no longer suitable for community supervision.”

In addition to the prison sentence, Ortley ordered Bealmer to pay $30 restitution to the Blue Moon Nite Club, $129 restitution to the county jail, a $1,000 fine and $800 in public defenders fees.