State Senator Greg Barkus has agreed to enter a plea of “no contest” to one count of felony criminal endangerment for running his boat into the rocks on Flathead Lake and seriously injuring himself and his passengers. If the judge agrees, Barkus will receive a 3-year suspended sentence, and pay the state $4,000 in restitution (probably for repairing the rocks into which he piled his boat). If he’s a good boy while on probation, the conviction will be expunged from his rap sheet (but not from the historical record).
The reasoning here seems to be that spending several nights in the hospital receiving powerful drugs and being cared for by pretty nurses while he recovered from injuries incurred in the boat wreck was punishment enough, a fair substitute for spending not even one night in the slammer.
There’s no word on whether he’s to receive a lifetime ban on drinking alcoholic beverages, or whether the details of the crash will be sealed. At this point, I’d beg against the former and on the latter.
Is this just? I’ll leave all to draw their own conclusions. Is it consistent with the culture of alcohol abuse that bedevils Montana? You bet.
Is it the end of Barcus’ political career? Probably. Were he to stand up and acknowledge the seriousness of his actions, and to take up the cause of boating safety while swearing off grog, he might be able to rehabilitate himself. But that’s not how he’s approached the situation.