Pam Polejewski was sentenced April 23 in district court on charges of evidence tampering and solicitation of evidence tampering.

A jury found her guilty of those charges on March 4 after a two day trial.

Judge David Grubich sentenced her to 10 years in the Montana State Prison with seven years suspended to run concurrently, but consecutive to her sentence earlier this year in the underlying animal abuse case.

In that case, Judge John Kutzman sentenced her in November to two years in prison for each count to run consecutive, for an eight year total, but suspended each sentence.

Grubich gave her credit for 312 days of time served in the county jail and ordered that she pay $2,782.13 in restitution to a woman in her apartment complex who provided emergency veterinary care to cats and kittens found after Polejewski tried to hide them from law enforcement in February 2024.

Polejewski guilty on evidence tampering charges

That restitution only included an emergency vet visit and follow-up care, but not a $6,000 surgery performed by a Bozeman specialist on one of the kittens rescued that the woman paid for and has since adopted the two kittens found during the Polejewski investigation, according to testimony during the April 23 sentencing hearing.

In his sentence, Grubich expanded on previous conditions barring Polejewski from owning, possessing, controlling, supervising, sheltering or feeding any animals even temporarily.

Polejewski had been out of jail for the last four months, but was handcuffed after the sentencing and transported back to the county jail to await transport to the Montana State Prison.

Polejewski sentenced in animal cruelty case [2024]

The tampering charges stem from a 2020 animal cruelty case in which Polejewski was found guilty by a jury on a felony count of aggravated animal cruelty and three felony counts of cruelty to animals. In that case, she was charged after a fire at her 77 Wexford Lane property when officers found animals in poor conditions and a condition of her bond at the time was that she was prohibited from having animals and required her not to commit any new offenses, according to court documents.

In February 2024, 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 February 2024 incident.

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After the shooting, deputies continued their investigation into Polejewski and after obtaining warrants, searched her vehicle, apartment and storage area at the corner of 15th Avenue South and 20th Street where they found animals and pet supplies.

The hearing included arguments over whether to admit photo’s of the deputies injuries from the shooting at 77 Wexford, which Polejewski’s attorney, Brian Haynes, said were “inflammatory” and not pertinent to the case at hand.

John Brothers, prosecuting the case for the Cascade County Attorney’s Office, said that the shooting was a “predictable consequence” of her lengthy criminal history involving animal offenses.

“Her actions and her actions alone that led the sheriff’s office to be there,” he said. “If she had just complied with any court order, dating back any number of years, we never would have been there. It’s preposterous to say now that she’s not responsible for that.”

Polejewski guilty on all counts in animal cruelty case [2024]

Grubich said that he wouldn’t admit the photos of the deputies injuries because, “I don’t need to see a bullet wound to understand what he’s been put through.

He said he wasn’t making any findings related to the shooting at 77 Wexford and Polejewski hadn’t been charged in that incident, but would consider the incident in the broad scope of her history in his sentence.

Several people submitted letters in support of Polejewski’s character and several testified on her behalf during the April 23 hearing, to include her older sister, a longtime friend and relative of Mike Hanson, the man killed in the 77 Wexford shooting. 

The three people testified during the hearing that she was kind, had always loved animals and was intelligent.

In making the prosecution’s recommendation for a prison sentence, Brothers said that her criminal history dated back to at least the 1990s according to county records to include 30 misdemeanor and four felony convictions.

He said that in 2005, she was convicted on similar charges and violated her release conditions prohibiting her from having animals three times and each time said the animals weren’t hers or she wasn’t technically possessing them.

Polejewski’s bond revoked in initial animal cruelty case; trial set for July [2024]

Those violations prompted judges to use language specific and broad to limit her ability to have or care for animals.

“For 30 years she has weaseled her way out of accountability,” Brothers said. “The defendant is never going to follow your conditions. You’ve never had a more clear picture of a person who is going to reoffend.”

He said that if Polejewski isn’t incarcerated it’s likely she’ll reoffend and he’ll have to get a search warrant that Cascade County Sheriff’s deputies in the room would have to serve.

“I ask that you make the shooting at Wexford the last chapter of this saga,” Brothers said.

He said that he wouldn’t forget a deputy’s testimony on why they investigate and prosecute the animal cruelty cases and that was because animals are “victims without voices.”

“I can’t call the countless animals we rescued. They can’t tell you about their pain and suffering. I certainly can’t call the ones that were lucky enough to die.”

Haynes, Polejewski’s attorney, noted the significant CCSO presence in the courtroom and their interest in the case and asked Grubich to remain impartial despite their presence.

He said the language in Brothers’ sentencing memo was “dehumanizing” and that many of her past charges had been dismissed.

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Haynes said her criminal history in Cascade County could be categorized as long, but it was also narrow, focusing on animals.

He said that in that last four months since being released from jail, she’d been complying with court orders, meeting with her probation officer and seeing a therapist.

Haynes said that the court could hold her accountable without incarceration and that making restitution payments would be challenging if she was in prison.

Polejewski, speaking on her own behalf, said she wanted to refute a lot of the allegations and had a stack of documents and photos.

She said that her therapist had mentioned to her getting a therapy animal, but she wasn’t interested, to which Grubich said “that’s not going to happen.”

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“Who’s stuck on this thing with animals, it’s not me, I have moved on,” Polejewski said.

Grubich said that a jury convicted her of animal cruelty in another case and now he was considering sentencing her for evidence tampering.

“We’re not here to decide whether or not you should have been,” he said, and she could pursue an appeal through the proper process.

She said she was confused why her 2020 case kept coming up and that she hadn’t been with animals in the last four months.

Polejewski then moved to speak about how she’s involved in her church community and helping women who have been released from jail or are living on the streets to help connect them with resources.

She said she’s also been doing art and that people have asked for her portfolio.

“Not everybody sees me in the light of the state,” she said.

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Grubich said that he was considering Montana sentencing policy that requires the court to hold her accountable for her actions and “reflects harm caused by your offense.”

He said it was clear she was not supposed to be caring for animals “and you were caring for animals.”

The police investigated and that she attempted to hide evidence of the animals and enlisted the help of others to help remove the animals or evidence.

“That’s what happened, that’s what you’re convicted of,” Grubich said.

In the process of the investigation, a CCSO deputy was shot and Hanson was fatally shot.

“This was all related to this issue, because police were investigating your violation,” Grubich said. 

He said deputies wouldn’t have been investigating or at the Wexford property “if you hadn’t tried to find a way to finagle animals into your life. That’s on you.”

As to her criminal history and the many charges that were dismissed over the years, Grubich said he knows how the system works and decisions were made for various reasons.

Slaughter: deputy shot, in stable condition [2024]

Grubich said that Polejewski comes off as a “relatively likeable person” in court and that he says hello to her but still had a job to do under the law.

“Your history is a history of a person who has been cruel to animals in the way you take care of them,” Grubich said.

He said that Polejewski hoards animals, has allowed continuing nuisances, failed to care for animals, ignores neighbor complaints, and police and court orders.

“What I see in you, is a person who ignores the law,” Grubich said. “You have endangered hundreds of animals” and the people who have supported her disobedient conduct. “You love animals, but, and this might hurt, you are utterly incompetent at taking care of them.”

He said that in her testimony during the April 23 hearing, and throughout decades of these cases, Polejewski continues to “play the victim” as if the system is out to get her, but that’s because she’s breaking the law and “all you’re doing is harm to animals.”

Grubich said her continued conduct and refusal to follow orders that lead to the February 2024 investigation in which Hanson was killed and deputy shot, “you put the wheels in motion for his death.”

He said that he wouldn’t blame her for the February shooting, but that she should feel some accountability and if that she walked away “feeling you have no hands in that dough, then you’re sadly mistaken.”

Grubich said he’d read the letters of support and her testimony on her character, but thought a lot of them were misguided by her version of the truth.

He said he’d seen the photos of her property throughout the case and “the cages that those animals were in were atrocious. You can’t care for animals. I don’t know whatever gave you the impression that you could. I wouldn’t even let bugs crawl around in those cages.”

Grubich said that in her criminal history, the state had dismissed many charges, giving her “every single chance there is to know it off and be law abiding. The truth is, if you’re given any opportunity to care for animals, it will result in harm. You will lie, you will cheat, you will enlist others to help you, which you did in this case, to try to hide the evidence of your violations.”

He said that in this case, he had ordered her not to have any animals in any way while the case was pending when he released her on her own recognizance earlier this year, but then testified during the April 23 hearing that she was feeding animals.

While speaking to Polejewski, she interrupted to say her probation officer had told her something, to which Grubich said he wasn’t the court.

“You violated my order,” he said as she interrupted again. “I think you’re looking for any minute loophole.”

She said she wasn’t interested in animals anymore.

“I don’t believe you,” Grubich said.