A convicted forger currently serving two to four years in prison was denied a Rule 35 motion for a reduced sentence Monday, with County Prosecutor Jack Douglas and Judge Ben Simpson both agreeing that the reasons presented for the request by defense attorney Michael Waldrup were insufficient.

“Through counsel, Mutter asked for leniency,” Douglas said. “The reasoning was a little unclear, with the apparent problem being that Mutter doesn’t wish to remain in prison and wants early release. I’m sorry, but no one wants to go to prison.”

Billy J. Mutter, 46, was charged with making and passing fake $50 bills at his Moyie Springs home Jan. 24, 2010, and he was sentenced to two- to four-years in prison, fined $750 and court costs, with jurisdiction retained on the prison sentence.

After completing a six-month program at the Idaho Department of Corrections Facility in Cottonwood, he returned to Boundary County and, because of a scathing report by corrections personnel, he was denied probation and ordered to complete his jail term in December, 2010.

Douglas told the court that it was incumbent on the defendant to do much more than simply file a motion for leniency.

“Here, Mutter did essentially nothing to indicate that he has changed,” he said. “Without fundamental change, he remains an undue risk to the community. Until he comes to the realization that the world is not all about him and that he has real responsibilities to the rest of us, which he has to honor, I don’t see how he can expect to ever succeed at probation.”