Pamela Polejewsi was scheduled to be sentenced on Nov. 7, but the hearing was postponed to Nov. 25 due to delays over restitution.

Polejewski was found guilty on all counts on Aug. 2 in a yearslong animal cruelty case.

A jury found her guilty on a felony count of aggravated animal cruelty and three felony counts of cruelty to animals.

The charges were from a May 6, 2020 fire at 77 Wexford Lane when deputies responded. A trailer had burned to the ground and some animals had been killed in the fire.

During the Nov. 7 hearing, Polejewski’s defense attorney said that he had received the restitution affidavit three hours before the hearing and hadn’t had time to thoroughly review it with his client.

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He said that the prosecution was denied a continuance for the sentencing and felt that his client was being punished.

Judge John Kutzman said that there is no legal deadline for providing a restitution deadline and did not believe the prosecution was malicious in providing it the day of the hearing.

“I’d be frustrated too if I got this three hours before a hearing,” Kutzman said, but that the defense shouldn’t be surprised the county was seeking restitution and he would allow the defense adequate time to prepare.

“They can be as mad as they want, I don’t think you did it on purpose and that’s my ruling,” Kutzman told Stephanie Fuller, the Cascade County deputy attorney prosecuting the case.

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Fuller said that the Cascade County Sheriff’s Office was recommending $12,943.98 in restitution for costs incurred related to the initial 2020 fire on Polejewski’s property. Those costs included veterinary care for the animals, feed and other animal supplies, according to CCSO.

Polejewski’s attorney said “ability to pay would be a real issue here,” adding that she’d have to stay in jail if sentencing was further delayed.

Kutzman said she’s still sitting in jail for related evidence tampering and solicitation of evidence tampering charges.

Her bond in that case is $100,000.

After the 2020 fire, while on scene, CCSO deputies saw goats, dogs and horses running loose on the property.

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They contacted Polejewski, who was removing animals, to include kittens, puppies, dogs and a ferret, from a trailer near the fire.

The camper was filthy, according to the search warrant, and deputies noticed a dog between blankets, tarps and bags, which Polejewski told deputies was dying and very heavy. Deputies also saw her remove a “sickly looking dog from the camper that had fluid coming from its head,” according to the search warrant.

She told deputies that she didn’t want the Department of Livestock inspectors assistance with horses loose on the property and they observed a cage so full of kittens the animals didn’t have room to move.

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Deputies noticed dogs in unsuitable kennels who didn’t appear to have food and most were living in mud, as well as ducks and geese that didn’t appear to have feed. Horses and goats were running loose and some horses didn’t have access to water, according to the search warrant.

“It was clear to law enforcement that the property was one involving animal hoarding. Pamela has a long history of animal hoarding in Cascade County,” according to the search warrant.

The day after the fire, deputies executed a search warrant on the property with a veterinarian and personnel from the Great Falls Animal Shelter.

The veterinarian found a mini horse with deformities for lack of foot care; a deceased bloated dog with a necrotic mouth in a trailer that also contained a cage of kittens, a pot-bellied pig and puppies that were living in their own feces, with no food or water, according to the search warrant.

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The vet euthanized another dog with a severely disfigured face due to infection.

All animals were seized be evaluated and receive proper care, according to the search warrant.

Inside what appeared to be Polejewski’s residence, deputies found more animals in cramped and unclean living quarters without food or water. A number of cats with eye infection or no eyes were found, as well as birds and a rooster with torn back tail feathers, according to the search warrant.

In total, 172 animals were found and seized from the property, according to the search warrant. The animals that appeared most endangered, about 25-30 of varying species, were taken to the city animal shelter.

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Sentencing has not yet been set and Polejewski has been held in the Cascade County Adult Detention Center since February on a new charge of evidence tampering and solicitation of evidence tampering on a $100,000 bond.

Polejewski was initially released on a low bond after the 2020 fire, but her conditions of release prohibited her from having animals and required her not to commit new offenses, according to the Cascade County Attorney’s Office.

In February, deputies were investigating reports that she had animals on her property at 77 Wexford Lane.

In the process of the investigation, Michael Hanson, a friend of Polejewski’s was on the Wexford property and was shot and killed by a deputy, who was also shot in the shoulder in a Feb. 23 incident.

In early June, a coroner’s inquest determined that Hanson’s shooting death by a deputy was not criminal.

After the shooting, deputies continued their investigation into Polejewski and after obtaining warrants, searched her vehicle and apartment at the corner of 15th Avenue South and 20th Street.

During that portion of the investigation, deputies found live fish in her apartment.

They also found cats, kennels and other animal supplies in a storage area that was accessible by building tenants.

Deputies testified during the May 23 hearing that neighbors reported seeing Polejewski with a small dog and some cats at the apartment.

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They testified that a man had reported to deputies in late February that he had been helping Polejewski move animals and supplies from her apartment until he heard about her animal cruelty case from a CCSO release following the shooting at Wexford Lane.

That man, who Polejewski testified she didn’t know, told deputies that the odor in her apartment had been so bad that he had to go outside to vomit, deputies testified.

Matthew Schubarth, a manager at Jack’s Pet Store, had contacted deputies at that time to report that Polejewski had surrendered a bucket of fish and a bucket with a frog in it.

Deputies arrived at Jack’s after Polejewski had left and in court testimony, estimated there were 30-50 fish in the bucket.

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She was arrested on Feb. 29 for the new charges and the county attorney’s office asked the court to revoke her lower bond in the initial animal cruelty case and assign a $100,000 bond in that case to run concurrent to the $100,000 bond for the tampering charges filed this year.

Judge John Kutzman granted the attorney’s request during a May 23 hearing.

The evidence tampering charges are still pending, according to County Attorney Josh Racki.

During the May hearing, Det. Jake Tri, the deputy involved in the shooting testified about his recollection of the investigation leading up to the shooting.

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Deputies testified that they had followed Polejewski from the Wexford property to Smith’s before the February shooting, but lost sight of her person.

Tri testified that he had called her to tell her that her vehicle in the Smith’s parking lot was being impounded as part of the investigation into whether she had animals in violation of her conditions of release.

The investigation into Polejewski paused while CCSO dealt with the shooting at Wexford Lane on Feb. 23, but resumed the next day, according to CCSO officials.

At that point, a deputy obtained search warrants for her truck and apartment, where she testified she had been living for about four years, since the 2020 fire on the Wexford property that led to her initial animal cruelty charges.

Det. Thaddeus Smith of CCSO testified in May that he had been conducting surveillance on the Wexford property while in plain clothes during the investigation. At one point, he said Polejewski had walked up to his unmarked vehicle and asked if he was a deputy, to which he said yes.

Smith was part of the search at Polejewski’s apartment and said they’d found cats in a common area of the building and a piece of mail that had both Polejewski and Hanson’s name on it.

Det. Nicholas Allison of CCSO testified in May that he had searched Polejewski’s vehicle and found receipts for animal supplies; empty bags of cat litter; soiled cat litter; as well as adoption papers for a husky for Hanson that had Polejewski’s name listed as a person who could sign to accept shipment of the dog from Seattle.

Polejewski testified in May that she had owned the Wexford Lane property for 25 years, but had been living at an apartment in town because people were vandalizing her property and had kicked in her door.

Prosecutors argued that Polejewski had used the Wexford address when filing police reports and a November 2023 jury questionnaire she submitted.

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She said she didn’t own animals but had delivered supplies for Hanson, who was living on the Wexford property, since his vehicles broke down.

Polejewski testified in May that she had operated a no-kill animal shelter at the Wexford property for many years and that she had moved some of those supplies to her apartment due to the vandalism at Wexford, but didn’t know if she had purchased more supplies over the last four years.

She testified that the cats on the Wexford property were feral.

Judge John Kutzman asked if she had fed any of those feral cats, to which she said yes.

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He asked if she had delivered cat litter to Hanson for those cats, to which she said the litter could have many uses.

Kutzman asked if she had live fish in her apartment in February 2024 and she said, “yes, I did your honor.”

Polejewski’s attorney, Levi Roadman, argued that the cats and dogs were owned by Hanson.

He said during the May hearing that she’s 67, not in good health, and “the things she’s being accused of don’t seem to warrant a $100,000 bond,” which he called an “outrageous amount.”

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Roadman said Polejewski had rendered aid to animals and delivered supplies to Hanson for animals, but “we don’t believe delivering supplies constitutes possession.”

Kutzman said that she was not allowed to have animals of any kind as a condition of her release and that they were on property she owned while Hanson was there.

“I’m not impressed by the argument that it was Mr. Hanson possessing the animals rather than her,” Kutzman said in May. “I’m not going to split these hairs.”

Roadman requested a venue change, but it was denied.

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A week after the 2020 fire and Polejewski was criminally charged, she filed a civil complaint against the county claiming a “litany of constitutional violations,” including trespass, unreasonable search and seizure, malicious prosecution” and more.

The district court dismissed her claims and the Montana Supreme Court upheld that decision.

Since filing her first complaint in 2020, she filed additional claims and appeals.

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Cascade County asked the state’s high court to declare her a vexatious litigant, a request the court granted in November 2023, writing, “each step of the way, this court and the district court have gone to great lengths to afford Polejewski due process, accommodate her lack of legal expertise as a pro se litigant, and decipher her arguments in an effort to discern whether they have any merit. While we have previously declined to declare Polejewski a vexatious litigant, we note that ‘[h]owever much we desire to keep the courts open to all persons seeking to adjust their rights, duties, and responsibilities, we must also take into account the effect that [the litigant’s] actions bring on other parties to [their] suits.” Considering Polejewski’s history of duplicative litigation, we deem it appropriate to declare her a vexatious litigant and place parameters on her access to the courts of this state going forward.”

The Montana Supreme Court ordered, that Polejewski was a vexatious litigant and before she’s allowed to initiate any legal proceeding or file and pleading in any court in the state regarding the forfeiture and disposal of the animals recovered from her property, or the conduct of any government agency related to the case, “she is required to obtain pre-filing approval from the court in which she seeks to file. The court may prohibit any such filing upon a determination that the claims asserted are harassing, frivolous, or legally not cognizable. Only upon issuance of an order granting Polejewski permission to file may she file the proposed pleading or document. We also caution Polejewski that any person who would attempt to file a document with a court on her behalf must be licensed to practice law in Montana.”