Lawrence Brasda was sentenced Aug. 18 in district court in three separate criminal cases.

In June, he signed a plea deal in those cases, one of which stemmed from a late September 2024 incident that had begun as a kidnapping investigation.

Judge Elizabeth Best followed the prosecution’s sentencing recommendations and sentenced Brasda to 15 years in prison with five suspended on an aggravated burglary charge; 10 years with five suspended on each of two criminal endangerment charges; five years with none suspended on a strangulation charge and one year in the county jail on a charge of fleeing from law enforcement.

Brasda takes plea deal in three cases; sentencing set for August

She ordered the sentences to run concurrently.

Brasda was charged in that incident, bonded out of jail on a $20,000 bond and failed to appear for his initial court appearance on Sept. 30, 2024.

Brasda arrested after car chase, skips bail [2024]

A warrant was issued for his arrest and he led the Montana Highway Patrol on a chase near Buffalo in Fergus County that they terminated, Sheriff Jesse Slaughter told The Electric last year.

Brasda was charged with a felony count of criminal endangerment and misdemeanor counts of stop sign violation, fleeing from or eluding a peace officer, reckless driving, no insurance first offense and driving without a valid drivers license.

In that case, Brasda agreed to plead guilty to two counts of criminal endangerment and fleeing from or eluding a peace officer.

For those charges, the County Attorney’s Office recommended a 10 year sentence to state prison for both criminal endangerment counts, with five years suspended, and a year in county jail for the fleeing charge.

Police make arrests in weekend incident [2023]

In the underlying Sept. 27, 2024 investigation into a potential kidnapping and deputies were looking for a late 90s model Chevrolet pickup.

Slaughter said that 12 deputies and officers from CCSO and the Great Falls Police Department were looking for the pickup.

A deputy saw a vehicle matching the description of the suspect vehicle in a University of Providence parking lot. The deputy activated his emergency lights and the the truck exited the parking lot at a high rate of speed, according to court documents.

The deputy pursued since there were reports of a possible kidnapping and the driver was later identified as Brasda, according to court documents.

Brasda didn’t stop and continued driving at a high rate of speed, disregarding the stop sign at 13th Street and 33rd Avenue South, traveling through residential neighborhoods at speeds in excess of 80 miles per hour and drove through at least one residential yard.

Brasda initially evaded the deputy, but his vehicle was located in an alley behind 1618 20th Ave. S. and he was found hiding on the roof of the residence, according to court documents.

Public safety roundup [2024]

Brasda had no liability insurance for the vehicle and did not possess a valid driver’s license when he was found, according to court documents.

“By driving at such reckless speeds through residential neighborhoods, Brasda posed a substantial risk on injury or death to other drivers on the road and pedestrians,” prosecutors wrote in their charging documents.

In the other two cases included in the plea agreement, Brasda has agreed to plead guilty to felony counts:

• aggravated burglary
• strangulation of a partner or family member

For aggravated burglary, the county attorney’s office recommended a sentence of 15 years in prison with five suspended.

For the strangulation charge, the county attorney’s office recommended a five year prison sentence with no time suspended.

They also recommended anger management and a chemical dependency evaluation with Brasa following all of those recommendations.

Prosecutors left the decision to the court on whether those sentences should be consecutive or concurrent.

During the Aug. 18 sentencing hearing, Vince van der Hagen, his court appointed defense attorney, said that Brasda had lost his son and grandfather in a short period of time and started using drugs while in prison and “gone severely downhill” since then.

Amanda Lofink, the deputy county attorney who prosecuted the case, said that as part of their sentencing recommendations, he needed to work and pay community fees.

Brasda’s employer said he’d been a good worker but hardships came along and things went downhill.

Ashli Brasda, his sister, said that it was unfortunate he hadn’t gotten treatment previously to deal with toxic relationships and addiction.

Lofink said that they were “all very serious offenses,” and it was lucky no one was more seriously hurt.

To Brasda, she said she was very sorry for his losses and couldn’t imagine that pain, but he’d been on a troubling path before the death of his son and it continued since.

Ken Olson, also defense for Brasda, said that there was no question substance abuse got him to this point, but that Brasda wanted to get treatment and “this is basically a sink or swim situation for him.”