Plains man pleads guilty to burglary in Flathead

A Northwest Montana man facing charges in five counties is likely headed to prison after he admitted to two crimes Thursday afternoon in Flathead County District Court.

Mitchell Bear Raymond, 25, of Plains, pleaded guilty to burglary and bail jumping. He will be sentenced at 1:30 p.m. Thursday, Sept. 2.

A plea deal calls for Raymond to receive a 5-year sentence to the state Department of Corrections on the burglary charge and a 6-month suspended sentence in the county jail for bail jumping.

Flathead County District Court Judge Heidi Ulbricht said Raymond would also have to pay restitution.

Raymond’s public defender, Liam Gallagher, said the agreement calls for Raymond’s 5-year sentence in Flathead County to be served concurrently with three cases in Lake County and one each in Sanders and Lincoln counties.

In Lake County, Raymond, according to a story in the Valley Journal, was sentenced in May to six years deferred on felony burglary and theft charges and two years deferred for possessing methamphetamine.

In Sanders County, where Raymond is locked up in its county jail, he pleaded guilty to drug possession. He is scheduled to be sentenced Tuesday, Aug. 10.

Raymond is facing a criminal endangerment charge in Lincoln County after a high-speed chase in November 2020.

Raymond was finally arrested by agents with the Northwest Montana Drug Task Force and booked into the Flathead County Detention Center Wednesday, Feb. 3. His bail is set at $310,520. The dollar figure is a total for the various warrants.

Raymond has been on law enforcement’s radar particularly since he led Sanders County officers on a high speed chase in November 2020.

According to information from the Plains Police Department, an officer tried to stop a vehicle driven by Raymond. He allegedly fled and the chase reached speeds of 90 miles per hour on Upper Lynch Creek Road before ending on Little Thompson River Road.

A passenger in the vehicle was captured, but Raymond escaped.

In Flathead County, Raymond was charged with felony burglary after he wrote in a letter to a friend saying he had items from a residential burglary in Bigfork.

Raymond was scheduled to stand trial Jan. 13, but he didn’t appear and a warrant was issued for his arrest. He was also charged with bail jumping.

In Lake County, Raymond was reported to be one of five co-defendants involved in a series of home burglaries and storage units in 2018. Two of his co-defendants, Eugene Thomas Germain and Brandon Tollie, were sentenced to lengthy state prison terms.

A July 2020 story in the Valley Journal reported a search warrant was served at Raymond’s home in 2019 which revealed several stolen items which were being investigated by the Lake County Sheriff’s Office.

In Missoula County, court officials there said Raymond was charged with felony theft of items valued at more than $5,000.