Plea reached for Hungry Horse man on meth charge

A plea deal has been reached in the case of a 43-year-old Hungry Horse man charged with possession of meth and a meth pipe.

Ronald Millward had faced up to 5 years in prison and a $50,000 fine for felony possession of dangerous drugs and up to six months in jail and a $500 fine for misdemeanor possession of drug paraphernalia.

In the Jan. 2 plea agreement, the county attorney’s office and Millward’s public defender agreed to recommend to Flathead County District Court Judge Robert Allison that Millward be sentenced to five years with the Department of Corrections, all suspended, and that the paraphernalia charge be dismissed.

The drug possession sentence would be consecutive to Millward’s earlier sentence for brutally assaulting his wife in 2005. Sentencing is scheduled for Jan. 30.

According to court records, sheriff’s deputies investigating a theft at the Glacier Center gas station on U.S. 2 in Coram were led to a residence on First Avenue South in Hungry Horse on Dec. 11, 2012.

Ronald Millward and Quentin Millward had been evicted from the house, and the landlord had requested that a sheriff’s deputy conduct a walk-through before the locks were changed.

A search warrant was requested after a deputy allegedly saw items stolen from the Glacier Center store. Deputies then located a glass pipe with meth residue in one room and a spoon with meth residue in another room.

Ronald Millward allegedly admitted the pipe was his, and Quentin Millward allegedly admitted the spoon was his.

The theft case was adjudicated in Flathead County Justice Court. Ronald Millward was assigned a public defender and pleaded not guilty to the drug charges on Dec. 19.

Ronald Millward is already a convicted felon. His 2006 sentence for assaulting his wife was revoked and reinstated in February 2013 after he allegedly racked up numerous probation violations.

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

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

Early last year, after urin-analysis tests indicated Millward was using meth while under probation, Judge Heidi Ulbricht reinstated Millward’s 10-year sentence with five years suspended.

He was given credit for time served and a recommendation that he be screened for the Missoula Assessment and Sanction Center (MASC) program.