In brief: Burglary suspect pleads guilty
One of several suspects tied to a 2012 Medical Lake burglary in which more than 20 guns were stolen pleaded guilty Thursday to reduced charges.
Cody F. Wolfley, 21, pleaded guilty to two counts of unlawful possession of a firearm and second-degree taking a motor vehicle without permission.
Facing more than 13 years on the original charges, Wolfley agreed to a plea bargain that will give him a minimum of 19 months in prison.
Deputy Spokane County Prosecutor William Jennison agreed to allow Wolfley to take part in the Drug Offender Sentencing Alternative, which will seek to treat his drug addiction to avoid future crime.
Investigators accused Wolfley of helping a juvenile female move several guns stolen from her father’s home in Medical Lake in exchange for a pickup truck from 21-year-old Bradley R. Kelly. Kelly later pleaded guilty to reduced charges and was sentenced in June to 13 months in prison.
Jennison said only a few of the guns were recovered.
Campfire sparks fire near Mica Bay
A wildfire that threatened three homes south of Coeur d’Alene earlier this week was caused by burning paper that blew out of a campfire, officials said.
The fire burned 18 acres east of U.S. Highway 95 in a rural residential area near Lake Coeur d’Alene’s Mica Bay. A homeowner had started a campfire Tuesday afternoon when gusty winds spread embers from the paper, said Shane O’Shea, assistant fire warden for the Idaho Department of Lands in Coeur d’Alene. Suppressing the fire was a multiagency effort. The fire was contained that evening.
People can be held responsible for suppression costs when the fire was caused by human negligence or willful disregard for safety, O’Shea said. IDL is still investigating the fire, so the department hasn’t determined whether it will bill the homeowner, he said.
Campfires are allowed in Kootenai County, O’Shea said. A shovel and bucket of water should be nearby.
Man gets 12 years for having child porn
A convicted sex offender from Spokane Valley was sentenced to 12 years in federal prison Thursday after he earlier pleaded guilty for the second time to possession of child pornography.
Christopher M. Ebner, 38, pleaded guilty last March to possession of child pornography stemming from an arrest in January 2012 after Spokane police investigators learned Ebner was sharing images of exploited children.
In 2005, Ebner was sentenced to 26 months in prison after he was convicted of third-degree rape of a child for having sex with a 14-year-old girl he met in an Internet chat room. He also was convicted as part of the same case for possession of child pornography.
Police arrest man who holed up in room
Coeur d’Alene police took a man into protective custody Thursday morning after he took a large number of pills and barricaded himself with a handgun in a room at a Coeur d’Alene retirement home.
Police found the man unconscious in a room at the Bestland retirement apartments on 606 E. Best Ave. He was taken by ambulance to Kootenai Health. No shots were fired. The man’s name wasn’t released.