Sex offender's sentence revoked for second time

A Kalispell man was sentenced to 15 years in prison, all suspended, after his 2003 sentence for sexual assault was revoked for the second time.

In re-sentencing Joseph Mihalko on May 30, Flathead County District Court Judge Robert Allison credited Mihalko for actual time served and re-imposed probation conditions from 2003.

Abiding by his probation requirements has been Mihalko’s undoing. He was initially charged with three felony counts of sexual intercourse without consent and a misdemeanor count of sexual assault in April 2002 after four women accused him of inappropriately touching them while he massaged them at his A Wild Rose Bed and Breakfast establishment in Coram. He faced from 2 to 100 years and up to a $50,00 fine.

Following a plea agreement, the charges were amended to a single felony count of sexual assault. Judge Katherine Curtis sentenced Mihalko in May 2003 to 20 years in prison, all suspended, six months in the county jail, a $500 fine and sex offender evaluation.

Soon after getting out of the county jail, probation officers began tallying up Mihalko’s violations. He failed to report to the probation office, failed to attend sex offender sessions and blew a 0.115 blood-alcohol content in March 2005 and a 0.123 BAC in July 2005.

After his arrest, Judge Curtis allowed Mihalko to be released so he could attend inpatient and outpatient chemical dependency treatment in Oregon and then live at the Coram bed and breakfast when he returned in October 2005.

Mihalko, however, began to rack up probation violations in 2006. At one point, he turned up at North Valley Hospital complaining of chest pains that turned out to be caused by detoxification from alcohol. In May 2006, he blew a 0.217 BAC.

Judge Curtis revoked Mihalko’s sentence on May 25, 2006, and re-sentenced him to 20 years in prison with 15 suspended. He was paroled on April 3, 2008.

During the next four years, according to probation reports, Mihalko never held a job for more than six weeks. He was fired from McDonald’s after failing a breathalyzer test. A probation officer described Mihalko’s adjustment as “half-hearted.”

Mihalko faced revocation again this year after he showed up drunk for a Glacier High School concert in February and blew a 0.337 BAC. The college-educated former engineer and bed and breakfast owner found himself back at the beginning again.