August 10, 2004
On Aug. 10, William Eric Snowden, 41, Coeur d’Alene, received the maximum sentence allowed for burglarizing the Kootenai River Inn. District Judge James Michaud (retired), followed the sentencing recommendations of Boundary County Prosecutor Jack Douglas for burglarizing the Kootenai River Inn in Bonners Ferry, Idaho.
“I consider 10 years in prison justified because of the extensive criminal history of this defendant,” Douglas explained. “Given his long and very bad record, I felt the only appropriate recommendation was the maximum prison sentence. The facts show Mr. Snowden to be a career criminal, and I felt society had to be protected from him. I also felt there was no way to alter his behavior except to lock him up where he could not hurt the public again for a very long time."
At approximately 4 p.m. on June 19, 2003, a surveillance camera at the Kootenai River Inn caught Snowden breaking into an arcade machine. When security chief Wayne Hurst asked Snowden if he were a contract worker for the machines, he admitted he wasn’t and left the Inn in a white Jeep Cherokee. As Snowden drove away, Hurst called police and provided the vehicle description and license number. Bonners Ferry City Police stopped Snowden on the Kootenai River Bridge, and arrested him based on the description provided by the security officer who watched him break into the machine.
A search warrant for Snowden’s vehicle was obtained, inside the Jeep police found a collection of burglary tools, including a drill, a lock out tool kit, a box of rubber gloves and approximately 50 keys. They also found 2.8 grams of methamphetamines.
Snowden has been to prison twice before, a fact which Douglas said indicated that Snowden had not ever learned his lesson. Recently, Snowden was sentenced in Kootenai County, Idaho for other crimes, and received a prison sentence there as well.
Douglas told the Court that Snowden’s conduct never has improved since his criminal history began in approximately 1981, and involved the same types of crime he was convicted of in this court. Douglas said he saw no reason to believe this defendant could be rehabilitated. Snowden recently was sentenced to a prison term in Kootenai County for other crimes.
Douglas said he could not recall the last time he had recommended the maximum sentence. "This office does not take such a harsh position lightly, but the facts of this situation compelled it,” he said. “In the end, I believe we have to protect our society in the years to come.”