10 years: Lance Pavlik sentenced before packed courtroom

THOMPSON FALLS – Lance Pavlik was sentenced to 10 years in jail on Tuesday, March 12.

Sanders County Judge C.B. McNeil  delivered a 30-year sentence, with 20 suspended.

The Sanders County Courthouse was filled to capacity as the sentencing took place, with dozens of people left waiting in the hallway.

As the court was in session, eager people in the lobby peeked through the courtroom door window, hoping to get a glimpse and an idea of what was taking place behind the closed doors. 

After the sentence was given and the crowds flooded from the courtroom, tears were seen streaming down the faces of some of those who attended.

Shirts saying “remember” were also seen, with Christina Jackson and Jeremiah Bennett’s picture on them.

Pavlik, a prominent member of the Thompson Falls community, vice-chair on the Thompson Falls School Board, and the former Thompson Falls golf coach, pled guilty to four felony counts in January following the investigation of a crash involving Pavlik in early September.

He was charged with two counts of vehicular homicide and two counts of criminal endangerment.

The two  vehicle head-on collision that took place on Prospect Creek Road in Thompson Falls resulted in the deaths of both Jackson, 23, and Bennett, 32,  of Thompson Falls.

The investigators found Pavlik had a .245 BAC in his system at the time of the crash.

Bennett’s children, Mya and Abel were also injured in the collision.

The initial emergency call reporting the crash came in at 11:37 p.m. on Saturday, Sept. 8 and Thompson Falls Ambulance was paged to the scene. Two ambulances were dispatched to the scene and transported the victims to Clark Fork Valley Hospital.

Abel, the two-year-old boy involved in the crash, was flown to Harborview Medical Center in Seattle.

Shortly after Bennett was transported to CFVH, he was pronounced dead. Jackson was pronounced dead on arrival.

Pavilik, who was driving a pickup truck, was also transported to CFVH as was Bennett’s daughter, Mya.

After the crash, both vehicles were impounded at the Thompson Falls based company, Saint’s Towing.