Felon gets harsher sentence than prosecutor recommends
Eldon Joseph Ostermiller walked into court last Friday most likely thinking he would be going home at the close of his sentencing hearing, thanks to a joint plea agreement under which prosecutors were not asking for any incarceration.
Instead, the 52-year-old Billings resident left in handcuffs.
“This type of conduct is not going to go unpunished,” said 22nd Judicial District Judge Blair Jones. “Sometimes (just) being convicted of a felony is not enough.”
Stillwater County Attorney Nancy Rohde and defense attorney Jeff Michael had jointly recommended a sentence of 10 years to the Department of Corrections with all that suspended, plus $1,240 in fines and fees and $3,038 in restitution.
Also, the sentence was to run consecutive to a recent sentence handed down in Yellowstone County.
Ostermiller had previously pleaded guilty to two felony counts of theft and two misdemeanor counts of criminal mischief related to the 2014 theft and vandalism of a private work vehicle and a vehicle belonging to the city of Columbus.
When the attorneys presented their recommendation last week, Jones questioned it.
“These would be the third and fourth felonies?” Jones asked Rohde.
“Yes, he does have some history,” Rohde responded.
Jones immediately expressed his thoughts on the recommendation, noting that Ostermiller’s first felony offense was committed when he was 44 and that he was not convinced his issues were behind him.
“You’re thief and I don’t know if you get that,” Jones said to Ostermiller.
Ostermiller said he fell into a life of drugs after losing his daughter, mother and another family member. Michael told Jones that the recommended sentence was the best one for his client.
Jones held firm, noting that part of the sentencing process was a punishment. The judge then imposed a sentence of 10 years to DOC with all but three years suspended, along with the recommended fines, fees and restitution amount.
Also sentenced last Friday was Ostermiller’s son, 32-year-old Joshua Ostermiller, on the same charges. The same joint sentencing recommendation was presented for him, with Michael noting the younger Ostermiller had just one prior felony conviction.
“I see a little bit of difference (from his father) but not much,” Jones said. “He has a pretty horrendous criminal history for a young man.”
Joshua Ostermiller presented plans to move to Texas, where he has a job, and start his life over and away from the negative influences in Billings. Jones told him that all the problems he has now will also be in Texas, but he was willing to let him give it a try. Jones followed the joint sentence recommendation, but did so with a warning.
“To all of this there is a horrific cost...and it’s got to stop,” said Jones.
The Case
In December of 2014, a report of a suspicious vehicle trespassing in Yellowstone County led lawmen there to a van with the R&H Concrete logo that had been spray-painted in an attempt to conceal it, as well as having a side glass door broken out. The van was filled with tools and construction equipment. Deputies ran the license plate, discovered it was owned in Columbus and called Stillwater County dispatch.
The owner of the van was contacted and told his van had been stolen but recovered. He estimated the van and equipment was worth $27,000.
Also discovered in that area was a truck hooked up to a flatbed trailer on the property, according to court documents. Those vehicles turned out to belong to the city of Columbus and had also been stolen, with the logo spray-painted in an attempt to conceal it.
In the bed of the truck were construction equipment, a propane tank, an oxygen tank, a large red toolbox and generators.
Deputies processed the scenes and determined the suspects had worn gloves and wiped away finger prints.
Columbus Police Chief Bill Pronovost obtained cell phone records that showed both Eldon and Joshua Ostermiller were in Columbus in the early morning hours of Dec. 8, 2014, according to court documents.