Lionel McKnire was sentenced Feb. 18 in district court to a five year commitment to the Montana Department of Corrections, with all time suspended, for a July 3 incident.
Judge David Grubich also ordered that McKnire get chemical dependency and mental health evaluations and follow any recommendations.
He received 167 days credit for time served.
McKnire was charged after a Cascade County Sheriff’s deputy was attempting to serve a violation of a protection order and obstructing a peace officer citations for Pondera County to McKnire at 1722 2nd Ave. N. around 11 p.m. July 3.
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Upon arrival, the deputy observed a partially open door to the residence, a half empty alcohol bottle and a cell phone on the front patio, according to court documents.
The deputy saw McKnire through the front window and identified himself and the reason for his presence, at which point McKnire laid back down, pretending to sleep, according to court documents.
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Shortly after that, a Great Falls Police officer arrived to assist and a few minutes later, McKnire got up and went into a different room, emerging with an AR-15 style rifle, flashing it through the threshold of a doorway, then barricading himself in a back room of the residence.
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McKnire was charged with a felony count of assault on a peace officer, or a felony count of assault with a weapon, and a misdemeanor county of obstructing a peace officer.
Under a plea agreement, he plead guilty in December to a felony count of assault on a peace officer and the other two charges were dismissed.
Tyler Fries, defense attorney for McKnire, said that his criminal history is long and seems alarming, but as he dug into it, the charges were primarily misdemeanor driving offenses.
Fries asked Grubich to reduce the sentence down to three years with all time suspended.
Fries said in the July 3 incident, McKnire had been dealing with his wife’s ALS condition and helping her, among other issues in an “awful situation.”
“This is a person who had a really tough hand dealt to him, and he didn’t play it right,” Fries said, which the defense acknowledged. The incident was a bad thing and “the officer showed a great deal of restraint.”
But, Fries said, McKnire wasn’t a bad person and had been working to get things back on track.
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McKnire told Grubich that he lost his wife while incarcerated, lost his dog and his wife’s caregiver had stolen money from him so he was catching up on bills.
Grubich said that based on the allegations of the July 3 incident, “you’re lucky that [officers] didn’t start shooting. This could have turned out so much worse than it did.”
He said he was sorry to hear about his wife’s death and the unfortunate things that had happened, “but certainly, you put yourself in the position that you’re in right here and now.”
Grubich said that police came to his door to serve a protective order and “your response to that gives me great concern” and that a person can’t pick up a rifle and threaten officers for doing their job.
