Kenneth “Mark” Hunter

Before placing Kenneth “Mark” Hunter on unsupervised probation, District Court Judge Bill Simpson told Hunter he was getting “quite a benefit.”

Hunter — who was in court for allegedly providing marijuana to several Powell teenagers in 2022 — agreed. But, he told the judge, “To be honest, sir, I would rather go to prison than live like I am now.”

While out on bond last winter, Hunter suffered a freak accident that has effectively left him paralyzed, he said. The 64-year-old Powell resident appeared at August’s sentencing hearing by phone, as he’s been receiving round-the-clock care at a rehabilitation hospital in Utah.

Hunter originally faced multiple felony charges that carried the potential of prison time, but his accident and injuries led the state and defense to strike a less punitive plea deal over the summer. Hunter admitted to a single felony count of possessing a controlled substance (marijuana) for a third or subsequent time. Four other charges in the case were dismissed — along with a separate misdemeanor possession charge — while three to five years of prison time have been suspended.

Marijuana and teens

According to court records, Powell police found marijuana and a pipe at Hunter’s Hamilton Street home in mid-October 2022. He bonded out on the misdemeanor charge, but was arrested two weeks later, after three Powell High School students returned from lunch smelling strongly of marijuana. 

When questioned by Powell Police School Resource Officer Matt Koritnik and school administrators, the teens reportedly said they’d been at Hunter’s home, where he’d shared a joint. Charging documents indicate the group included two boys who were 16 or 17 and a girl who was 14 or 15. 

Police obtained a warrant to search Hunter’s home, but he initially refused to open his door, Koritnik wrote in an affidavit. When Hunter did let the officers in, they found indications that he’d burned some items and put some of the materials in the toilet, charging documents say; that had led to a misdemeanor count of interference with a peace officer, which was among the counts dismissed as part of the plea deal.

An accident worse
than prison

Hunter served 11 days before posting a $10,000 surety bond in November 2022. The case dragged on until January, when Hunter tripped over a patch of ice, hit his head on his truck and broke his neck, he said.

“I laid there for nine-and-a-half hours before anybody found me,” testified Hunter, who had one of his frozen hands amputated.

He was initially taken to an intensive care unit in Billings, before being transferred to the rehabilitation hospital in Utah.

While he can move his feet, “I’m just barely getting up where I can stand up,” Hunter said at August’s hearing, describing himself as completely dependent on caregivers.

“... They treat me really well, but I’ve been an outdoor person my whole life and I would rather do that [prison time], than this,” he told the court. “ And that’s the god-honest truth.”

Hunter also expressed appreciation for the plea deal offered by the state and approved by the judge.

“I probably don’t deserve it,” he said.

A ‘tragic set of circumstances’

Hunter’s court-appointed defense attorney, Sarah Miles, acknowledged it’s “extremely unusual” for a defendant to receive unsupervised probation on a felony charge. However, given the protracted care he needs, imposing supervised probation “would be an undue burden not only on Mr. Hunter but probably on the state and the department of probation and parole as well,” Miles said.

Deputy Park County Prosecuting Attorney Larry Eichele “begrudgingly” agreed, telling the court, “I had to acknowledge the practical ramifications of it.”

Simpson called it a “tragic set of circumstances.” He encouraged Hunter to keep moving forward with his rehabilitation and wished the defendant the best.

“There’s still a lot of life to be lived,” Simpson said.

Hunter was sentenced in August, but his plea deal wasn’t totally completed until last week, when Eichele dropped the last pending charge in Park County Circuit Court.