Bilderback avoids third strike

Bobby J. Bilderback, 48, Malden, was sentenced to a 13-month state prison term April 21 after he pleaded guilty to amended charges of third degree assault and possession of methamphetamine. The conviction followed a plea bargain agreement in which the state had to drop a "third strike" charge which could have led to a life sentence for Bilderback who was convicted three years ago of providing drugs to a Malden teenager who subsequently died of a drug overdose and was the subject of a missing person report.

Prosecutor Denis Tracy Thursday said the plea bargain was negotiated because the alleged victim in this year's case, Michael Paugh, could not be located to testify in the event the case went to trial.

Paugh had been staying at the Bilderback residence in Malden before Feb. 27 when he reported he had been threatened with a pistol during a confrontation after he was ordered to leave the residence Feb. 27. Paugh at the time told officers Bilderback had threatened him with what appeared to be a .45 pistol when he ordered him to get out of a car.

After receiving his report, officers transported Paugh, who was homeless, to the Union Gospel Mission in Spokane. Tracy said they subsequently learned that Paugh never registered at the mission and he has since vanished. The prosecutor actually issued a material witness warrant for Paugh's arrest, a rare procedure, but that did not result in locating the witness.

Another part of the charge against Bilderback involved the pistol which was allegedly used to threaten Paugh. The pistol led to a charge of illegal possession of a firearm against Bilderback who is a convicted felon.

Deputies reported prior to the Feb. 27 response another Malden resident had observed Bilderback target practicing with a pistol at Malden.

Tracy said deputies have not been able to locate the pistol which reportedly had custom Idaho State Patrol markings.

Without Paugh or the pistol, Tracy opted to negotiate a plea bargain which reduced the assault charge from second degree to third degree which is not a "third strike" crime under the state law.

Bilderback initially faced the third strike sentence because he was convicted of murder in Chelan County in 1986 and convicted here in 2013 of murder for providing drugs to Donavin Stapert, a 17-year-old boy, who died from an overdose. The 2013 case included a missing person search for the Stapert boy who was later found buried in a gun safe in Spokane County.

Judge David Frazier, who sentenced Bilderback in August of 2013, sentenced him to 13 months Friday to send him back to state corrections. The term was actually classified as an exceptional sentence because Bilderback faced a maximum of 12 months under the state's standard range.

Tracy said Friday's sentencing on the plea bargain essentially concludes the Feb. 27 case against Bilderback, so the state will not have the option on redoing the conviction in the event that Paugh surfaces at some time in the future.

Bilderback in 2013 was sentenced to 68 months in prison in the Stapert case, but he was released early by the state last December and returned to his former residence in Malden. After deputies received the report from Paugh Feb. 27, they learned Bilderback had left Malden. He was reported to be driving a 2006 Hummer, a vehicle which was also part of the investigation in the Stapert case three years earlier. Bilderback was arrested by U.S Marshals four days later in Spokane.

Friday he was credited with 51 days already served in jail here up until Friday's sentencing. He had been ordered held in jail without bail.