Fourth of July knife wielding man sentenced

Almost one year ago, Brian Dean Bell was charged with assault with a deadly weapon and criminal endangerment, both felonies, and initially pleaded not guilty to both charges. In April of this year, Bell changed his pleas pursuant to a written plea bargain agreement, according to court records. Bell pleaded Nolo Contendere to the criminal endangerment charge and on June 8, was found guilty of the charge and was sentenced to five years in the Montana Department of Corrections with all but 94 days suspended on the terms and conditions to his probation. Bell will also have to pay a $1,000 fine.

Last Independence Day, Phillips County Sheriff’s Dispatch received a report of a man with a knife in the Miner’s Club in Zortman. A male suspect, identified as Brian Bell, was reportedly waving a knife at patrons of the bar, but was, as the two deputies in route were told, subdued and locked in handcuffs.

When the sheriff’s deputies arrived at the Miner’s Club, the two deputies saw a man sitting on Bell’s legs and a female standing on his head, according to court records. The woman informed the deputies that Bell had tried to cut her and several other bar patrons with the knife. She said that while Bell was swinging the knife, a male got up and punched Bell in the back of the head, rendering him unconscious. The bartender grabbed a pair of plastic flex cuff and placed them on Bell. The bar patrons also used Duct Tape to secure Bell’s legs.

Before the Phillips County deputies arrived at the Miners Club, while Bell had a woman standing on his head and a man on his legs, Shelby Lynn Walker allegedly tried to release Bell from his restraints by cutting the tape and flex cuffs with scissors. Walker was also detained by the bar patrons.

With the guilty plea and plea agreement, the assault with a deadly weapon charge was dropped.

The State of Montana vs. Erica Sherman

In district court on June 8, Erica Sherman’s attorney agreed to a plea agreement and pleaded guilty to criminal possession of dangerous drugs, a felony. Sherman was not present in court and her attorney informed the court that she is living with her grandmother in North Carolina. In May, Sherman admitted to being in possession of dangerous drugs, namely cocaine and methamphetamine.

In mid-December of last year, Sherman and another woman were traveling through Phillips County, near Saco, and were spotted by Montana Highway Patrol trooper walking down Highway 2, according to court records. The MHP Trooper drove toward mile marker 489 on Highway 2 where he found the two women who were identified as Sherman and Castronuovo. The women told the trooper that their vehicle had broken down.

The other woman charged in the case, Jennifer Castronuovo, told the trooper that the duo was traveling from Florida to Oregon. Sherman told the trooper that the two were traveling from Florida to Fargo, North Dakota. The trooper saw that when Sherman made the comment on their travel plans that she also gave a “look” to Castronuovo as if to tell her friend to “let her do the talking.” The trooper found the conflicting traveling stories suspect and figured the two were trying to conceal illegal activities.

Sherman continued to tell the trooper that the pair had traveled from Florida to Williston, North Dakota, to visit Castronuovo’s family. Sherman told the trooper that after visiting Williston, the two would then travel on to Fargo. The trooper, knowing his geography, knew that there was no logical reason to travel to Phillips County on a trip from Williston to Fargo. Besides the story not making sense, the trooper noticed that the two women were nervous and visibly shaking.

The trooper asked the two if there was any marijuana in the vehicle and Sherman answered that “there shouldn’t be” and “I don’t think so,” but added that sometimes her boyfriend was known to smoke the illicit drug inside of the vehicle. The trooper went on to ask the two if there was any methamphetamine, cocaine or heroin in the car and was told there was not.

Based on his training and experience, and their conflicting answers to many questions, the trooper had reason to believe that two women were lying and that there were possibly illegal drugs in the car.

After a search warrant was issued, a Tri-Agency Task Force agent and other assisting agents searched the car and found 2.3 grams of cocaine, .3 grams of marijuana, a glass pipe with white residue inside it – which tested positive for methamphetamines – snubbed-out marijuana “roaches” and a homemade metal pipe with marijuana residue inside the pipe’s bowl. The two women where then picked up at a Malta motel and arrested. The two were both charged with criminal possession of dangerous drugs, a felony, and possession of drug paraphernalia, a misdemeanor.

Sherman will next appear in district court on July 28 for a sentence hearing.