Sentence for condo destroyer revoked for second time

A 27-year-old Kalispell man with drug addiction problems who rolled his vehicle on the North Fork Road at 95 mph last May 10 was sentenced by Flathead County Judge Heidi Ulbricht to 10 years with the Department of Corrections with five suspended.

Nicholas Merrell pleaded guilty to criminal mischief and was given a six-year deferred sentence in March 2007 for his role in totally destroying the interior of a condominium on Wisconsin Avenue in Whitefish. He was also ordered to pay $31,929 in restitution.

After failing to abide by his probation conditions, the state filed petitions to revoke his sentence in April and June 2013 after Merrell began to rack up numerous drug and alcohol violations involving beer, vodka, marijuana, methamphetamine, cocaine and heroin. His sentence was revoked and he was sentenced to 10 years in prison, all suspended.

Merrell was back in trouble on Feb. 8, 2014 when police officers responded to the Outlaw Inn in Kalispell and arrested him on disorderly and resisting arrest charges.

Following his crash on the North Fork Road on May 10, 2014, the county attorney’s office filed a third petition to revoke Merrell’s sentence. Merrell said he swerved to avoid wildlife and was despondent about something a friend had said. He refused to provide the Montana Highway Patrol trooper a breath test.