Englehardt, Holt sentenced on meth charges

Two Havre men were sentenced in federal court in Missoula to prison terms on methamphetamine charges alleging they helped run a distribution ring running from California through Ravalli County and to the HI-Line..

Judges sentenced Nicholas Clinton Holt and Kelly James “Jim” Englehardt in separate cases on related charges.

Holt pleaded guilty to charges of conspiring with Englehardt and Bruce Anthony Glass of Victor and Matthew Lennon Kehs to sell meth including in the Havre area.

Federal Judge Dana Christensen sentenced Holt to four years in prison followed by five years of probation, with 18 months of the prison time to run at the same time as a state District Court sentence on other charges and 30 months to run after the state sentence.

Holt had been serving a suspended sentence in a plea he entered on 2011 charges including a fourth driving under the influence, a felony, In September, state District Judge Dan Boucher in Havre revoked the suspended sentence for multiple violations of conditions of release and resentenced Holt to the remainder of the original sentence, four years, six months and 26 days, and credited him with 267 days served while awaiting disposition of the motions to revoke the suspended sentence.

The Hill County Attorney’s Office filed multiple amendments to the motion to revoke the suspended sentence, adding new allegations over a period of some two years as new violations were discovered.

A jury in Missoula convicted Englehardt after a two-day trial on charges of conspiracy to distribute methamphetamine and possession of meth with intent to distribute.

Federal Judge Donald Molloy later sentenced Englehardt, who had served a previous federal sentence on marijuana charges, to 10 years on the conspiracy charge and five years on the possession charge, with both sentences to run at the same time. He added five years probation to followe the prison time.

Glass and Kehs both pleaded guilty to related charges filed against them,

Christensen sentenced Glass to 140 months in prison followed by five years supervised release for conspiracy to distribute meth, followed by five years probation.

Kehs sentencing is scheduled for July 10.

In a court document, an agent said an informant told law enforcement that Holt had been meeting with Glass in Victor and purchasing meth to sell.

Agents had intercepted packages containing 10 pounds of meth mailed from California to Glass, and investigation found Glass had received other meth both by mail and by traveling to California to purchase it, a document says,

The document says Glass said he believed Englehardt was financing Holt’s purchases. Witnesses told Tri-Agency Safe Trails Task Force agents that Englehardt was selling large amounts of meth in the area, including in Havre and on Rocky Boy’s Indian Reservation.

Holt later introduced Englehardt to Glass, and at one point Glass came to Havre to pick up the last $2,000 of a $14,000 purchase Englehardt made of 14 ounces of meth.

Engelhardt of Havre was sentenced in 2008 in federal court in Great Falls to 15 months in prison followed by two years of supervised release and was ordered to pay a $100 special assessment after he previously pleaded guilty to possession with the intent to distribute marijuana.

Engelhardt was injured in a fall from a cliff while ziplining at Fresno Reservoir 10 days after evidence leading to the charge was seized, sustaining multiple injuries including having a leg amputated. The sentence required he receive medical care and treatment while incarcerated at the federal prison.

Engelhardt was charged after the Tri-Agency Safe Trails Task Force served a search warrant on July 26, 2007, and searched several buildings including his residence in Saddle Butte Estates.

The search was conducted in coordination with local and state law enforcement agencies and the U.S. Border Patrol, including a Border Patrol helicopter being used in the search. The officers seized 145 items in the search, including $7,000 in cash and 18 pounds of marijuana.

Engelhardt's parents, Steve Sr. And Mary Engelhardt, who lived in a nearby house, both were charged with possession of marijuana, misdemeanor offenses, based on evidence seized in the July 26 search. In a plea agreement, Steve Engelhardt pleaded guilty to the charge in Hill County Justice Court and was sentenced to six months in jail, all suspended, and the charge against Mary Engelhardt was dropped.