Jeremy Carpenter entered a guilty plea as part of a plea agreement on Jan. 29 to a felony count of vehicular homicide.
On July 11, 2024, Carpenter was driving the wrong way on Interstate 15, traveling south in the northbound lanes of I-15 and crashing into the front of another pickup truck traveling north in the northbound lanes, near mile marker 261, according to the Montana Highway Patrol and charging documents.

The blood test showed Carpenter’s blood alcohol content at the time of the crash was 0.171, plus or minus 0.014, which is more than twice the legal limit, and his blood contained 0.14 milligrams per liter of cocaine, according to court documents.

Carpenter was 23 at the time of the crash.

Man charged in July 11 fatal crash

The 58-year-old male driver of the other truck was extricated from his vehicle and pronounced dead at the scene, according to court documents.

Daniel Wells was killed in the crash.

During his Jan. 29 change of plea hearing, Carpenter’s defense attorney Jason Holden, asked if he had caused the death of Wells in the crash due to driving while intoxicated.

Carpenter said yes.

Delays at state hospital put status of attempted homicide suspect, other criminal defendants, in question

Judge John Parker asked Carpenter how he was pleading, to which he said guilty.

Parker said that he accepted the plea and the County Attorney’s Office had 30 days to complete the pre-sentence investigation and then he would set a sentencing hearing.

In the plea agreement, Carpenter agreed to plead guilty for a recommended sentence of 20 years with 10 suspended at the Montana State Prison.

Carpenter is currently in the Cascade County Adult Detention Center where he’s been since he was sentenced in a Justice Court case in December after his suspended sentence in that case was revoked so he was resentenced.

According to his obituary, Wells served 28 years in the Air Force, retiring as a chief master sergeant in 2013.

“He loved fly fishing with his son, Craig. He loved camping, hiking, tinkering with cars, and working on projects around the house. He took great pride in everything he did,” according to his obituary.

The family suggested memorials in his name to the VFW Post 1087 at 4123 10th Ave. S., or the American Cancer Society.

Carpenter was standing in the center median a few feet from the crash when the MHP trooper arrived on scene and said he didn’t sustain any significant injuries, according to court documents.

Malmstrom releases name of airman killed in humvee incident

At the scene, Carpenter told the trooper that he had not been driving and was asleep in the passenger seat at the time of the crash. He told the trooper that he hadn’t wanted to drive after leaving a bar and his friend was driving who ran away from the crash scene, according to court documents.

Carpenter agreed to a pat search for weapons and told the trooper he had a knife in his pants pocket.

The trooper found two knives in his pocket and asked what was the bulge at his ankle, but he didn’t respond. The trooper removed the bulge which was an unmarked pill bottle that held what appeared to be several dime sized plastic baggies of a white powdery substance, according to court documents.

The substance tested positive for cocaine, according to the charging documents.

GFPD responds to crash, bounty hunter incident on Nov. 24 [2022]

The trooper saw several open containers of alcohol in Carpenter’s truck and he said he’d been drinking alcohol before the crash, both in Ulm and at the Driftwood Bar in Cascade, according to court documents.

A Cascade County deputy went to the residence of the friend Carpenter had said was driving and ran from the scene.
There, the deputy found the friend with his grandmother and was sober and uninjured.

According to court documents, the friend said he had not been with Carpenter and had texted Carpenter apologizing for staying home and falling asleep.

The trooper asked Carpenter if he wanted to be seen by medical personnel at the crash scene. He agreed and his condition appeared to deteriorate, so he was transported by ambulance to the hospital, where he agreed to provide a blood sample but continued saying he wasn’t driving at the time of the crash, according to court documents.

Carpenter was admitted to the hospital and investigators spoke to him on July 15.

UPDATED: Officer involved shooting, vehicle crash in Great Falls on Sunday [2018]

During that interview, he said he’d been alone in the vehicle at the time of the crash and had been drinking throughout the day before the crash in Ulm, then the Driftwood in Cascade and was driving back to Ulm to go to bed when the crash occurred, according to court documents. Carpenter lives in Cascade, but told investigators he was staying in Ulm that night, according to court documents.

Carpenter was scene drinking on surveillance footage at the Driftwood before leaving the bar around 11:45 p.m. July 10.

The blood test showed Carpenter’s blood alcohol content at the time of the crash was 0.171, plus or minus 0.014, which is more than twice the legal limit, and his blood contained 0.14 milligrams per liter of cocaine, according to court documents.