BUTTE – A Bozeman man was sentenced to 10 years in prison Tuesday for threatening a district judge.
Josiah Wright was sentenced in Butte District Court to five years each on two stalking charges.
The 36-year-old is accused of sending threatening statements to District Judge Ray Dayton in Powell County, as well as prison staff and mental health staff.
Powell County Sheriff Scott Howard said wright has been in his jail for almost a year and his mental health issues have made him a very difficult inmate.
“And I assure you they will have to isolate this man, because he is a threat to others, he’s a threat to himself. He can’t make it on the streets, he can’t make it in the prison world, he can’t walk the yard, he can’t go to the chow hall,” said Howard.
The sheriff added that the court has no choice but to sentence Wright to prison, because there is limited space in state facilities that treat the mentally ill.
