Lethrud gets chance to avoid hard time
Preston
Lethrud, 23, Bonners Ferry, was sentenced to up
to seven years in prison on a charge of
aggravated assault with a deadly weapon and up
to six years for second degree kidnapping May 8,
but Judge Steve Verby gave him a chance to avoid
prison.Lethrud pled guilty to both felony charges, stemming from a night-long incident with his then-girlfriend on Friday evening, November 29, 2011. According to court records, Lethrud was at the woman's home in Moyie Springs watching television and playing video games when he began drinking and demanding sex, despite the fact that she was nine months pregnant andclose to term.
When she refused, records say, Lethrud began verbally abyusing her, but she was able to calm him down enough that she could drive him to his parents home on Chippewa Street in Bonners Ferry, where he was staying.
When she dropped him off and began driving away, his temper flared again, and he grabbed up a two-by-four board and tried to keep her from leaving. She was again able to calm him down, even as he became physically abusive, and finally able to drive away and return to her home, where, shaken and exhausted, she fell asleep on the couch.
Her sleep didn't last long; instead of himself going to bed to sleep it off, Lethrud drove himself back to her house, where he gained entrance by breaking out a back window. Once inside and armed with a butcher knife, he dragged her off the couch and into her bedroom, where he threw her on the bed, put the knife to her throat and threatened to kill her.
He kept her in fear through the night, until he finally fell asleep. She was thewn able to call a co-worker at Three Mile Cafe, where she was expected for her last day of work before going on maternity leave. At 9:45 a.m. Saturday, her co-worker called 911.
Sheriff's detective Dave McClelland was first to arrive at the victim's home, but when she answered his knock on the door, she denied that anything was wrong. By her actions, McClelland realized that she was afraid to speak, and he asked her to step outside so they could talk.
She broke down crying and complied, and he drove her to the sheriffs office, where women from the Victim's Advocate program and a female officer were waiting to help her cope with her ordeal.
At around 10:45 a.m., after the woman described events of the previous night, McClelland returned to her home, where he found Lethrud sleeping. He was taken into custody without incident, and jailed in lieu of $150,000 bond on charges of aggravated assault, domestic battery and unlawful entry.
At Lethrud's preliminary hearing in December, deputy prosecutor Tevis Hull added the additional charge of second degree kidnapping.
In a plea agreement in which the misdemeanor counts of domestic battery and unlawful entry, Letrud pled guilty to the more serious felony charges.
Judge Verby accepted his plea, and handed down the prison sentences, which he suspended, retaining jurisdiction. If Lethrud is able to successfully complete a program at the Idaho Correctional Institution in Cottonwood, the judge could put him on probation; if he doesn't, Lethrud will have to serve out his terms.
In addition to time, Letrud has also been ordered to pay fines of $500 for each guilty plea, plus a total of $751 in court costs.