Deferred sentence for bad checks, bail-jumping

A 35-year-old Kalispell woman received a nine-year deferred net sentence for writing 18 bad checks at the Los Caporales restaurant in Kalispell and for bail-jumping.

Flathead County District Court Judge Robert Allison also ordered Rachel Matt to pay $7,340 in restitution and $400 in public defender fees. She had faced up to 10 years in prison for the felony bad check charge.

Matt allegedly wrote $6,940 in bad checks on a Glacier Bank account from Nov. 1 through Nov. 20, 2013. In a June 19 plea deal, both parties agreed to recommend six years deferred for the bad checks and three years deferred for not showing up at her June 2 jury trial.

Circumstances took a turn when Kalispell police responding to a domestic disturbance on July 22 found Matt and her boyfriend at their home very intoxicated and injured. Both were charged with partner-family member assault.

Matt didn’t show up for a revocation hearing after she was released on her own recognizance, and Allison issued a bench warrant with a $100,000 bond. Matt, however, showed up in court on Sept. 30 and was sentenced on Nov. 6 as per the June plea agreement.